The iTunes store made a big splash when it debuted in 2003, and has since become one of the most popular destinations for fee-based music downloads. Like The iTunes Music Store allows you to buy songs from a large catalog of major label and independent music for $0.99 each. It requires the use of Apple's free iTunes music jukebox software, now available to Vista, Windows XP and Windows 2000 users, as well as to Macintosh users. The iTunes software is well designed and simple to use, allowing you to download music, burn CDs, and transfer files to and from Apple's popular iPod portable music player, which is considered by many to be the best portable player out there. Apple's music catalog is large, with over 1,000,000 tracks, and contains music from the Big 5 music labels as well as over 600 independent labels. Unique among the music services is their selection of audio-books (over 5,000) and spoken word recordings, made available by agreement with Audible.com.

The iTunes store boasts several other helpful features, including music recommendations, historical Billboard charts, and celebrity created playlists with commentary. There's artist information, including includes artist biographies and album notes and a feature called iMix, which allows users to create and share playlists. Also new is a collection of radio airplay charts, organized by city and by station across the U.S. For example, if you live in Chicago you can browse charts from all the different radio stations that serve that market. The iTunes software also lets you listen to Internet radio stations that use the MP3 audio format. Another plus is the variety of payment options. In addition to the usual credit card payment, the iTunes Music Store offers gift-certificates, prepaid cards (available at Target stores nationwide) and a scheme which lets you set music "allowances" for your children (or perhaps yourself.

One of the biggest drawbacks to iTunes is that the downloads are encoded using the AAC (advanced audio coding) format, and protected using Apple's FairPlay digital rights management scheme. This limits the number of computers you can play the music on and the number of times that a single playlist can be burned to CD. Unfortunately, few portable music players outside of the iPod will play these songs. Further, iTunes software won't play the Windows Media Audio (WMA) files sold by other download stores. There is also no online jukebox or premium Internet radio option. And lastly, other services provide cheaper downloads (eMusic, Wal-Mart). All in all, the ITunes site as distinct advantages over other music downloading sites, but also its share of drawbacks.