BuyMusic
Encyclopedia
BuyMusic was a paid online music store
run by Buy.com
.
The store was launched in July 2003 with 300,000 tracks
available and was designed to compete with iTunes Music Store because at the time of launch, Apple's store was limited to Macintosh
users, and BuyMusic was the first to offer paid downloads to non-Mac users. Reportedly in 2003, the site has claimed to be "The World’s Largest Download Music Store." Unlike iTunes Music Store, the price of each song ranges from 80¢
to US$
1.99.
The site used to have extreme limitations on what users could browse. It would not allow anyone not using Microsoft Windows
and Internet Explorer
5.0 or greater to even view the songs available. Even users that met the stated requirements could encounter trouble—clicking the main "click here" link routinely crashed some user's IE 5.5 browsers
.
Before the spring 2004 integration with its parent site, Buy.com, users that did not meet the stated requirements couldn't even access static content such as press releases. Since the integration, all users can access all of buy.com.
The site has provided no statistics
regarding the number of customers and downloads, yet Scott Blum, the founder and CEO of BuyMusic, noted "We're nowhere near Apple's iTunes Music Store numbers." in a December 2003 interview
.
Though the download service's closure was never officially announced, it had quietly disappeared by December 2009, if not before; Buy.com's press releases stopped mentioning it sometime in 2007. The buymusic.com URL now redirects to Buy.com's physical CD store.
Online music store
An online music store is an online business which sells audio files, usually music, on a per-song and/or subscription basis. It may be differentiated from music streaming services in that the music store offers the actual music file, while streaming services offer partial or full listening without...
run by Buy.com
Buy.com
Buy.com, Incorporated is an online retailer based in Aliso Viejo, California.Buy.com began by selling computers and electronics in 1997 and has since expanded into many other categories...
.
- Pricing: Cost per download typically US$United States dollarThe United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
0.99 per single, US$9.99 per album - Platform(s): Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, Windows 98Windows 98Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid...
and later - Downloading: Yes
- Burning/Copying: Yes
- Streaming: No
- Radio: No
- Format: Windows MediaWindows MediaWindows Media is a multimedia framework for media creation and distribution for Microsoft Windows. It consists of a software development kit with several application programming interfaces and a number of prebuilt technologies, and is the replacement of NetShow technologies.The Windows Media SDK...
- Digital Rights ManagementDigital rights managementDigital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
: Yes - Preview: 30 seconds
- Trial: N/A
- Catalog: 540,000 songs
The store was launched in July 2003 with 300,000 tracks
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
available and was designed to compete with iTunes Music Store because at the time of launch, Apple's store was limited to Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
users, and BuyMusic was the first to offer paid downloads to non-Mac users. Reportedly in 2003, the site has claimed to be "The World’s Largest Download Music Store." Unlike iTunes Music Store, the price of each song ranges from 80¢
Cent (United States coin)
The United States one-cent coin, commonly known as a penny, is a unit of currency equaling one one-hundredth of a United States dollar. The cent's symbol is ¢. Its obverse has featured the profile of President Abraham Lincoln since 1909, the centennial of his birth. From 1959 to 2008, the reverse...
to US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1.99.
The site used to have extreme limitations on what users could browse. It would not allow anyone not using Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
5.0 or greater to even view the songs available. Even users that met the stated requirements could encounter trouble—clicking the main "click here" link routinely crashed some user's IE 5.5 browsers
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
.
Before the spring 2004 integration with its parent site, Buy.com, users that did not meet the stated requirements couldn't even access static content such as press releases. Since the integration, all users can access all of buy.com.
The site has provided no statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
regarding the number of customers and downloads, yet Scott Blum, the founder and CEO of BuyMusic, noted "We're nowhere near Apple's iTunes Music Store numbers." in a December 2003 interview
Interview
An interview is a conversation between two people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee.- Interview as a Method for Qualitative Research:"Definition" -...
.
Though the download service's closure was never officially announced, it had quietly disappeared by December 2009, if not before; Buy.com's press releases stopped mentioning it sometime in 2007. The buymusic.com URL now redirects to Buy.com's physical CD store.