Despite the growth of music streaming services like Spotify and Apple tree Music, many people still prefer to buy (at least some of) their music.

Buying music online means you own it outright rather than using information technology under license. As such, tracks aren't going to disappear from your library suddenly. Plus, there's no danger of the parent visitor going out of business organization and taking your music collection with it.

If you want to purchase music rather than stream music, here are the best places to buy music online.

ane. Amazon

buy music amazon

When you buy a song or album online, at that place are 2 ways you lot can receive the content—either digitally (in the form of an MP3 file) or physically (as a CD or vinyl record). Amazon caters to both markets.

When you enter the listing of a song or album that's available on Amazon, you will see a pick of purchase options available. Depending on availability, yous tin can cull to take hold of the MP3 or concrete version. The MP3 version is generally cheaper. If you buy the CD version, y'all will typically be granted a free copy of the MP3 version.

And recall, if you download the Amazon Music app, you tin can stream all of your digital music purchases from within it.

2. iTunes Store

itunes store

Apple iTunes Store was the original online music store, and information technology continues to thrive to this twenty-four hour period, albeit in a slightly reimagined format. Most singles on iTunes cost $0.99, though popular songs are commonly $i.29. The default toll of an album is $9.99.

But how can you access the iTunes Shop? It depends on which operating system y'all're using.

  • If yous use a Mac, the iTunes Store has been part of the all-new Apple Music app since the release of macOS Catalina. The former iTunes app no longer exists, simply you tin still utilise your iTunes collection in the Apple tree Music app.
  • The iTunes Store is a standalone app on iOS.
  • Conversely, iTunes does still exist on Windows. You will find the iTunes Shop within it.

Regardless of the app, the upshot is the same—you can buy a digital version of a song and download information technology onto your device.

3. Beatport

beatport buy music

Beatport is the best online music store for fans of electronic trip the light fantastic music (EDM). You lot can buy music as singles or albums; most singles cost $ane.29 or $1.99, while albums run to about $x.

One of the store's all-time features is the ease with which you can find new tracks. EDM is notoriously hard to navigate for newcomers—the sheer number of DJs, producers, and remixes arrive hard to discover fresh music yous'll love. Nonetheless, with Top 100 charts, DJ charts, countless genre categories, and fifty-fifty an accompanying blog, Beatport lowers the entry barrier considerably.

4. 7digital

7digital buy hi-res music

7digital is arguably the king of high-resolution music downloads. The company has been around since 2004.

About songs are available in three formats: 320kbps MP3 (standard quality), 16-fleck/44.1kHz FLAC (CD quality), and 24-scrap/96kHz FLAC (loftier-res quality).

Unless you're an audiophile with an expensive speaker setup, the high-res version is probably an unnecessary expense. It's easy to spot which formats are available for which tracks/albums thanks to the tags on the anthology artwork thumbnails.

The number of songs/albums available for purchase on 7digital is in the millions. As such, y'all tin be confident yous will find the music you want, even if it falls into a niche genre. All the latest hits from the earth's biggest music stars are as well available.

5. HDtracks

hdtracks

The other big name in the loftier-resolution audio world is HDtracks. It directly competes with 7digital.

There are both pros and cons when compared with its rival. On the upside, HDtracks has a greater number of audio formats available. The highest quality tracks (24-bit/176.4KHz) are a significant step upward on the best high-res tracks on 7digital, though most of the music bachelor in the highest-quality format falls into the classical music genre.

On the downside, the site is more than geared towards albums. If you prefer buying singles, you might have better luck with 7digital.

Make sure you also check out the various "Top" lists. They are divided by genre and let you lot explore the most popular music on the site for a given expanse.

Be certain to check out the best streaming services for audiophiles if yous beloved hi-res music.

six. Bandcamp

bandcamp

Musicians take spent much of the concluding decade criticizing services like Spotify for their payment models. At $0.006 to $0.0084 per play, artists and bands need to rack upwards hundreds of thousands of listens before they make coin.

Bandcamp, which is an independent platform, offers a more than band-friendly model. Musicians tin can make their own stores on the site and sell their songs directly to fans.

As a heir-apparent, you can download a track as many times every bit you lot desire one time yous've paid for information technology. Physical CDs and vinyl records are too available for purchase (though aircraft costs can sometimes be prohibitive).

Multiple formats are available for digital downloads, including MP3, FLAC, ALAC, AAC, OGG, WAV, and AIFF.

7. CD Universe

cd universe

If you lot're a traditionalist who prefers owning CDs over digital music, check out CD Universe. The site is fairly basic, but it has one of the well-nigh in-depth collections of CDs and vinyl records available for purchase anywhere on the web. At the last count, there were more than 800,000 titles.

We also like that CD Universe accepts payments via PayPal. That sets it autonomously from Amazon, the other big concrete CD seller on our list. The cost of a CD is slightly higher on CD Universe, even so.

eight. Walmart

walmart buy music

Walmart might not be the starting time name that pops into your head when you call back about music, but the grocery behemothic has long offered CDs and vinyl records in its stores and online.

The collection of titles isn't as deep nor as niche as Amazon and the like, merely if you're looking to pick up the latest music from today's stars, you'll find the albums readily available along with competitive prices.

And remember, Walmart offers a pickup service. Yous can go the music yous want in a physical form without waiting for a commitment driver or needing to set human foot within a store.

Ownership Music vs. Streaming Music

Everyone has their preferences, and we're not going to say that ane approach is better than some other. It depends on whether you prefer the ease of Spotify or the legal ownership of buying music outright.

Remember, you can download your almost-loved albums on Spotify for offline listening. All the same, you cannot export them exterior the Spotify ecosystem.