Musicmatch is perhaps best known for their audio jukebox software programs. The company claim to have created the world’s best music player – once you take a look at its features and benefits you’ll see why they are so proud of their creation!
You are offered four primary options with this site that give you varying degrees of control over the ways that you manage, organize, listen to and buy music on your computer and over the net. This way you’re guaranteed to find a perfect match for your audio needs. Your options here include:
The Musicmatch Jukebox
You can download a free version of this music manager program or pay a one-off fee for full functionality. This program gives you various options to help you manage the way you organize and play your digital music. You can, for example, create playlists, rip and burn CDs and use the program to manage the way you transfer music to portable devices such as your MP3 player.
On Demand
If you subscribe to the On Demand service (for a small monthly fee) you basically get access to 900,000 music tracks via your computer and the Jukebox software.
Radio
The Radio service on offer gives you loads of streaming music options – the service is considered to be one of the best online radio services and you can personalize your listening right down to choice of artist.
Music Store
One of the big advantages to Musicmatch is that the online store is built into the Jukebox program. So, you can use it to access over 1,000,000 tracks at the moment to suit all tastes! And, you get CD quality sound with every download – this isn’t always a given with other digital download services. You can even make an instant download purchase if you hear a track you like on the radio while it’s playing.One reason many users like this service is the personalization options that you can use. You can organize and listen to music in many ways by stating what kind of music you like and the system will even make sure that your preferences are highlighted for you and that you are given new recommendations for different artists based on your tastes if you want.
As with many digital download services this site works with WMA tracks – so you may find that your portable player may not be fully compatible here. It’ll basically need to be able to play WMA tracks to work – so technically it no longer supports iPod users!
This is ironic given the company’s earlier partnership with Apple. But, any other ‘PlaysForSure’ compatible player should be fine here. But – in general terms - the program also allows you to transfer CD tracks into MP3, MP3PRO, WAV and WMA which is a lot of format choice compared to other music management programs.
The software here now states Windows XP as a required standard for the latest version so it may not work for older systems and you’ll need to check first before you commit to buy. If you have problems with the system then you can access a personalized support site via the web site – be aware that this service is only available for certain subscribers for the first year of their subscription.
If you do sign up for this service make sure to check out their plug-ins area. You can get your hands on all kinds of stuff here including enhancements and visualizations and plug-ins for portables. This will make sure that you get the best listening experience possible.
iPod users can still use the service – but to integrate the music you download on to your iPod you’ll need to burn the WMAs on to CD and then import them into iTunes which will hopefully reformat them for you!
Check out more information on MP3 downloads .