THE DISCOUNT MUSIC STORE CHART
| COMPANY | | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Search Page | | | |
| Telephone | | | |
| Location | | | |
| Virtual | | | |
| Orders | | | |
| # of Titles | | | |
| Discount | | | |
| Members | | | |
| Shipping | | | |
| Pay by | | | |
| Returnable | | | |
| Genres | | | |
| Search | | | |
| Detail | | | |
| Annotations | | | |
| Features | | | |
| Response | | | |
| Server | | | |
| Password | | | |
| Cookies | | | |
| Privacy | | | |
| Spam | | | |
| COMPANY | |
Company: The main home page of U.S. online music storesthat sell New or New/Used music.
Search: A direct link to the music search page of eachmusic store, if available.
Telephone: Except for xxx, a virtual only music storeexpects you to order online. A walk-in music store allows phoneorders.
Virtual: Virtual only implies that the music store is amusic broker with limited physical inventory, no actual walk-inlocation. If a store is virtual the ship point may be from a statedifferent from the location of the merchant.
Orders: Most music stores only accept orders online. Somewill also accept orders by phone.
Number of Titles: The number of titles in the music store'sdatabase, not necessarily on hand.
Average Discount: Shows the average percent discount fromlist price based on a small sampling of prices. Discounts vary widelybecause selected items like bestsellers and closeouts may not berepresentative of the inventory at large. In addition a sales taxwill usually apply to those who live in the home state of the musicsite.
Members: Special member discounts and benefits may applyfor selected titles at some stores.
Shipping: The minimum charge for a music store to ship onetitle the slowest way within the U.S. With the exception of ImpactMusic the charge for each additional CD is a constant. e.g. for Towerthe charge for shipping three CDs would be $4.95. You can alwayscheck the final shipping and handling cost because it will appear onthe invoice presented before you approve it.
Pay by: Which credit cards or other forms of payment areacceptable to the music store. An * means no credit card charge ismade until the item ships.
Returnable: The music store returns policy for unwanted ordamaged merchandise. Unwanted merchandise may not be returnable if ithas been opened or may only be accepted for store credit.
Genres: The number of genres for the music store.
Search: Each music store allows a basic search by title andartist. Some allow for you to specify both simultaneously for fastaccess to the title.
Detail Screen: Each title has a basic detail screen withtitle, artist and price. Other items like a catalog number, label orthe titles of the tracks are vary from site to site.
Annotations: Music Boulevard offers a one word rating,others may have artist bios and influences..
Features: Often sites will have a special claim to famethat is unique in the trade and sets it apart from competitors.Notification means if your search fails for a title, a music storemay be able to send you e-mail later when new titles like it becomeavailable.
Response Time: Done with a 33.6K modem at lull and peaktimes. They should be considered as relative values to return a listof albums for an artist. Some sites are so rich in graphic contentthat it takes awhile.
Server: With Netscape Navigator you can tell if you have asecure link by examining the icon in the lower left corner of yourbrowser window. If the icon changes, the link is secure. If you don'tsee the icon, the browser may not support the Secure Sockets Layer(SSL).
Password: Some companies require an account and passwordfor transactions. This can be nice if you are a frequent buyer atonly one store and a nuisance otherwise. It's very easy to forget orkeep them all straight.
Cookie Demerits: Privacy sdvocates have pointed out thepotential for abuse present in the use of the MagicCookie file usedby many sites. Many large music stores use these cookies. This is ared flag in the absence of a written privacy policy and a potentialinconvenience to those who have cookies turned off.
Privacy Protection: Because of the strong potential formisuse of private information, we believe it is important for anonline music store to post a strong policy in writing for a guaranteeof privacy. To qualify for a "Yes" the merchant must state in someway on the site that customer information will never be used outsidetheir company. In is common in the mail order and telemarketingbusiness for companies to sell, rent and trade lists. An asterisk (*)means the company states they honor privacy when asked.
Spamming: Some music stores are notorious for sendingunwanted e-mail after you buy from them.
Caveat: The databases used by music stores that contain music datavary widely in what information is included for any given title. At aminimum the best database may have no artist and only an abbreviatedversion of the title. So if you know the exact title, use the basicform of that title in your first attempt to find the title at anonline music store. A title that has gone through several pressingsmay have several order numbers, one for each publisher, edition, andmedia.
Disclaimer: Caveat Lector. These ideas are for informational purposes only and constitute neither an endorsement nor a recommendation. We assume no responsibility with regard to the selection, performance, or use of any products or vendors. All understandings, agreements, or warranties, if any, take place directly between the vendors and the prospective buyers. We make no warranties as to the completeness or accuracy of this information.In fact, we guarantee that there will be errors on this page and other connected with it.Copyright 2002, shoppingagents.net. All rights reserved.