By Darren Waters
BBC News Online entertainment staff |
 On the face of it, Napster, iTunes and OD2 offer identical services - thousands of songs that can be downloaded at the click of a button and for the cost of a cup of coffee. But there are important distinctions between them - not least the costs and what you can do with the songs once they have been downloaded. Napster UK
 Napster argues it is different by offering an "immersive experience" |
Primarily a subscription service that aims to build a community around its users.
Library
700,000 songs
Costs
�9.95 a month for an unlimited number of downloads onto the hard drives of up to three PCs. A further 99p per track to copy the track to a CD or transfer to a portable device. Non-subscribers pay �1.09 per track to download and burn to a CD or copy to a portable device.
Format
The songs are downloaded in the encrypted Windows Media Audio format, which can be transferred to 60 different portable players, not including Apple's iPod.
Features
Napster has 10 interactive radio stations and its community services include a personalised radio station that is automatically created by selecting just three songs. Subscribers can browse each other's playlists and share songs via email. Napster also promotes new music and has developed forums for discussions about music. iTunes music store
 iTunes has been a huge hit in the US |
iTunes gave the online music world lift-off by offering a simple click-and-download service in the US. It is expected to launch in UK on Tuesday.
Library
700,000 songs (US)
Costs
79p or 0.99 euros per track, which can be shared by up to five computers on a network, burnt an unlimited number of times to CD and copied to an unlimited number of iPods.
Format
The songs are in Apple's own format, which means they can only be transferred to an iPod. Hewlett Packard is launching its own range of licensed iPods, which will also play songs from iTunes.
Features
iTunes is a high street music store online, offering a wide range of music. The focus is on simplicity. Users can email friends with a sample of songs as well as create and share playlists with other users. iTunes also lets users "stream" their music between five different computers - so music downloaded on one computer can be played on up to five other PCs. OD2
 OD2 provides the songs and structure for services such as Tiscali |
OD2 is Europe's most popular download service. But it just supplies the songs and infrastructure to a number of companies such as MTV, Virgin, HMV and MSN, and does not sell tracks directly on its own site.
Library
350,000 songs
Costs
OD2 services use credits - which cost roughly 1p per credit. A stream of a song costs 1 credit, a permanent download that can be copied to CD or portable device costs 100 credits.
Format
The songs are downloaded in encrypted Windows Media Audio format, which can be transferred to 60 different portable players, not including Apple's iPod.
Features
OD2's new Sonic Selector service allows users to generate playlists based on recommended music. Those playlists can then either be downloaded or streamed to the PC.
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