Buying music

A few years ago if you wanted the latest music you might have trekked to a music store and browsed through CDs, listened to a few tracks on headphones and then spent around $30 on a physical copy of the album. Then you probably would've gone home, put the album on your computer and stored the CD on a shelf where it only served to show your friends your good taste in music.

Or maybe you downloaded your music illegally using a BitTorrent client. This year the government clamped down on file-sharing (especially of music) with the new copyright infringement laws. The validity of the laws and the harshness of the penalties are debatable, as is the effect of piracy on the profits of the entertainment business.

But fortunately it's easier than ever to buy music online and even to listen legally before you buy.

Buying and listening online

iTunes has an extensive catalogue of music (Amazon has a similarly extensive selection but restricts its sales to US customers only). New music releases are available as soon as they come out. What’s more you can pre-order many big titles, which can be set to download automatically. And having an iPod Touch or iPhone/iPad gives you direct access to iTunes, because it’s part of the operating system.

Other services, like Bandcamp, allow you to buy harder-to-find music directly from the artist and sometimes for a "pay what you think" amount.

Bandcamp – along with services like Soundcloud, Grooveshark, and Last.fm – lets you listen to songs legally before you buy them. Some services, like Last.fm, also offer suggestions of other music you might like – and all provide links to places you can buy the songs.

Another popular music service, Spotify, is rumoured to be launching in New Zealand in February. So next year there’ll be even more ways to listen legally to music online.

Gifts

You can still give digital music as a gift. For example, gift cards for iTunes are widely available at stores (such as Dick Smith): these give the recipient a credit on their account so they can buy whatever they want.

The other option is to "gift" the album or song to someone. This means if you have an account with iTunes you can buy an album for someone and then have it "delivered" via email (or you can print out the redemption code and give that as a present). It can make a nice Christmas surprise and it's perfect for last-minute shoppers.