A CDE Definition
online music store
A Web-based service that sells copyrighted songs and albums for a fee. With Apple's iTunes being the most popular, an online music store is a legitimate music distribution organization that pays royalties to the music's copyright holders. Even Napster, which became infamous in the early 2000s for facilitating illegal copying, became a legitimate service in 2003.
Following are some of the major online music services in alphabetical order. For music information in general, visit www.mp3.com. Contrast with peer-to-peer network, which allows people to share music, whether copyrighted or not. See online music service.
Major Labels
www.Buy.com
www.eMusic.com
www.iTunes.com
www.Napster.com
www.WalMart.com
Independent Artists
www.CDbaby.com
www.LiveDownloads.com
www.MySpace.com
online music service
(1) See online music store and music search.
(2) A Web-based service that lets users stream and/or download songs to their computers or mobile devices. Also called a "music locker" if the service allows users to upload their own music collection. See Spotify, Pandora, Napster, Google Play, Apple Music, iTunes, iTunes Match and cloud music storage.

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