online music store - technical definition

A Web-based service that sells copyrighted songs and albums for a fee. With Apple's iTunes being the most popular, an online music store is a legitimate music distribution organization that pays royalties to the music's copyright holders. Even Napster, which became infamous in the early 2000s for facilitating illegal copying, became a legitimate service in 2003.

Following are some of the major online music services in alphabetical order. For music information in general, visit www.mp3.com. Contrast with peer-to-peer network, which allows people to share music, whether copyrighted or not.

  Major Labels          URL

  Buymusic              www.buymusic.com
  eMusic                www.emusic.com
  iTunes                www.itunes.com
  MusicRebellion        www.musicrebellion.com
  Napster               www.napster.com
  RealPlayer            www.real.com/musicstore
  Rhapsody              www.rhapsody.com
  Sony Connect          www.connect.com
  Wal-Mart              www.walmart.com
  Yahoo! Music Jukebox  www.musicmatch.com


  Independent
  Artists               URL

  Audio Lunch Box       www.audiolunchbox.com
  CDbaby                www.cdbaby.com
  GarageBand            www.garageband.com
  LiveDownloads         www.livedownloads.com