If you know a little bit about digital music, then you probably know what the differences are between the major music download services presently available. If you're looking to buy your first digital music player, then it's a smart idea to become familiar with the popular services. But which one is the best for you? We'll weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each service, which will hopefully give you a good idea of which service is right for you.



The iPod has played a big part in making iTunes so well known today. Other digital music players are compatible with iTunes and can play downloaded files from the service, but none work better than the iPod. If you're one of the many that decided to pick up an iPod, then you're sure to get the utmost satisfaction from the iTunes platform. In my opinion, the best part about iTunes isn't the wide variety of songs available for download, but the video part of iTunes. You get to download television programs and watch them at your convenience.



The spot where Zune users go to download their digital music is called Zune Marketplace. When it comes to price, Zune Marketplace offers about the same prices when compared to iTunes. If you're familiar with iTunes and expect Zune Marketplace to have just as many songs available to download, you might be dissapointed with Zune at first. When it comes to the variety of songs available for download, iTunes takes the cake. The future might change this, however, since Microsoft adds more songs for download all the time. Hopefully they will add video soon as well, since iTunes offers this currently while Zune does not.



Which service is the best? In my opinion, iTunes has been around for a lot longer and have a stronger foothold in the digital music market. Mainly because they offer more music, plus advantages like video that Zune doesn't offer just yet. Time might change these things, though, and the tables can turn. It's a good idea to keep a close eye on what both services are doing, as they are always implementing improvements to make your experience more enjoyable.