The Sony Connect music store contains hundreds of thousands of tracks and albums to download – across all kinds of genres and musical styles. The site claims that there’s something here for everyone – it’s not hard to see why when you take a look at the music on offer.
But, you’ll never find it hard to find stuff you like or new recommendations – the site is well organized and also contains various Staff Picks and Mix Tapes if you’re stuck for inspiration. You can even choose music according to your mood if that’s the way you want to go.
The RadioConnect area of the site is also great listening. There are various streamed stations to choose from – and they promise no commercials so your listening won’t be interrupted! The site has also developed a range of exclusive deals – so you’ll be able to download tracks and albums here that just won’t be available anywhere else.
And, with single tracks priced at around $0.99 you’ll get good value for money here. If you like you can also sign up for a Cash Card. This card can be used at the moment to buy various types of Sony products both on and offline. This can be a great gift or just a real easy way to use the store with no hassle. You simply charge up your card with the amount of money you like and spend it when and how you like.
Sony recently developed ATRAC software which is how all of their downloads are encoded. This system allows Sony Connect to manage their digital rights obligations. The ATRAC system is also considered to be one of the best types of MP3 software in terms of audio quality, the ability to compress audio tracks and download speed. The newest version of the technology – ATRAC3 – can compress audio to about 20 times smaller than an audio CD can which is pretty impressive stuff.
There is, however, a downside to the ATRAC system as it won’t necessarily be compatible with all MP3 players. This technology will only really work with a Sony player at the moment. And, if you want to transfer other formats such as WMA and MP3 on to your player then you’ll need to have the Sony Connect software transfer them to ATRAC first in most cases. This system is not compatible with the iPod at all.
If you download tracks from the site then you’ll be given unlimited listening but – because of DRM (Digital Rights Management) issues - you may also find that you have restrictions in terms of what you can do with the tracks in other ways.
So, for example, you will not be given unlimited CD burning (to either standard audio or ATRAC CDs) or unlimited transfer to portable devices in all cases. Once you’ve used up all your goes here you’ll have to re-purchase the music. And, certain tracks and albums may be listed on the site but you won’t be able to download them – some record labels will withhold download rights in certain areas.
One big thing that this site offers that few other digital downloads sites bother with can be found in their Music Deals section. This section basically gives you access to a range of ways to get free downloads so it’s always well worth a look.
For example, you can get hold of all kinds of free downloads at the store just by shopping with partner retailers – at the moment these deals range from getting a couple of tracks free through to getting a massive 50 tracks free. Make sure you keep checking out their Music Deals as you could save yourself some serious money here. Also, the site is big on competitions so keep an eye out here too.
For more information on legal music software go here!