Scam Sites
The first and foremost thing to consider is whether the site you're at is just there to take your money. Sad to say, but in the real world, there are a huge number of scam sites on the Internet. In the case of iPod music downloads, you may want to do your homework and thoroughly research a site before you reach for your credit card.
One site in particular is very attractive and shows they offer movies, games, TV shows, almost anything you want. But when you click the "Register" link to sign up, a credit card selection page appears showing a grayed out disclaimer on the bottom. If you left click and drag to highlight the paragraph you'll find out they DO NOT host iPod downloads of any sort! In fact they're only selling you, for $37, a list of other sites that DO offer a download service.
The disclaimer reads as follows,
"Disclaimer: This website is a database (ie: an index) to other websites that host downloads. This website does not facilitate in the download process in any way. This website is not affiliated with, nor has control over any of the websites it links to ..."
It seems to me you can get what they have to offer for free using a Google or Yahoo! search for iPod music downloads like I did. So it's best to thoroughly research the site you're interested in before you spend your money. A Google search with the site's name and the word scam would be a good place to start.
Quantity of Music/Video Files
The top download sites have millions of multi-media files; movies, videos, games, songs. The ones I use claim to have access to about 100 million files. Be certain to look on each site for the number of download files available in their database. You can also search the related iPod or music download forums for info on the site. If others are satisfied with their service, chances you will be too.
My account with one of the sites requires you to download a free utility which will search for songs based on the title or the artist's name. The search results sometimes include several hundred results. Naturally a number of the results are the same song, but there is a star rating system indicating the quality of each file. The majority of the files are mp3 format but some are in WMA format.
Price
Your options for quality iPod music downloads are numerous. But if the site passed the first two tests above then you should consider the long term cost. Prominent sites like Yahoo and MSN can be very expensive. For instance a Yahoo music account will cost around $70 per year and MSN charges about a dollar per song. So your typical "unlimited music downloads" site is a bargain, since they mostly offer a lifetime membership in the 35 to $50 range.
In Summary
As with anything in life, if it looks too good to be true a lot of times it is. But in this case, the nominal fee for joining one of these unlimited music download services can be well worth it. Because, the real fact is many of them use a P2P file sharing utility similar to the one I was required to download.
The iPod music download services that use it are basically charging you the same price as the utility's owner. So effectively, you're getting their customer service for free. Some of them offer additional free software incentives, game downloads, and movie and video downloads included in the membership fee.
Most of the services I looked at also include free iPod music conversion software. I'm happy with my account and I download several tunes everyday. But I did my homework and researched the sites for authenticity, file quantity, customer satisfaction and price before I spent my money.
