Consumer Reports

As a new dad, I'm looking for ways to stretch my music dollar. So far, I haven't come up with anything creative; I've mostly been spending more quality time with the many CDs and LPs I already own. New music is going to have to take a back seat to diapers ... and then toys ... and then lunch money ... and then college. After Harper's out of college, though, I think I'll be ready to be plugged into new music again. Then again, after she's out of school I might be too old and set in my ways to keep discovering. I hope not.

Anyway, I've been poking around on the Internets and looking for the best bargains on new music. Few of my findings were really surprising, but I thought I'd share them with you anyway.

Of course, one of the best ways to save money on CDs is to learn patience, bide your time and hope to find a used copy of the disc. This strategy would have worked on, oh, about 85 percent of the discs I own. The amount of money I would have saved is mind-boggling, but think about all the instant gratification I would have missed.

Let's face it: you can't always wait to find a used copy of a CD. I mean, do you think I'm going to be checking Web sites for the best price of the new Drive-By Truckers CD, "A Blessing and a Curse," when it is released on April 18? Shit no. Between now and then, I'll be saving my spare change in a soup can so I can head down to one of two or three stores (whoever has the best price ... I'm praying for a sale) on the appointed Tuesday and get my fix.

But if you're not a hopeless music junkie and can wait a few days, comparison shopping on the Web could mean saving money, particularly if you're going to be buying a lot of product. With that scenario in mind, I selected 10 Web sites with the hope that they would provide a reasonable cross-section of what's out there. We have a major book retailer (Barnes & Noble), a major music chain (Tower Records), a major retail site (Buy.com), a big-box retailer (Best Buy), the biggest Web store known to man (Amazon.com), a handful independent record stores/Web sites (Miles of Music; The Great Escape in Nashville; Electric Fetus in Minneapolis; and Ear X-Tacy in Louisville) and the world's prevalent seller of digital music (iTunes Music Store).

To put these outfits to the test, I needed a varied list of discs that would represent my (and, I suppose, your) taste. I started with the top 10 albums from No Depression's best-of list from 2005. To refresh your memory, they were:

1. Ry Cooder, "Chavez Ravine"
2. Mary Gauthier, "Mercy Now"
3. Bettye LaVette, "I've Got My Own Hell to Raise"
4. Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives, "Souls' Chapel"
5. Robbie Fulks, "Georgia Hard"
6. James McMurtry, "Childish Things"
7. My Morning Jacket, "Z"
8. Neil Young, "Prairie Wind"
9. Rodney Crowell, "The Outsider"
10. White Stripes, "Get Behind Me Satan"

To that list, I added:
One popular, but not really mainstream, disc: Two Tons of Steel's "Vegas." I get into a lot of record stores, but I never see the Band of Steel in the bins.

One up-and-comer: Amy LaVere's "This World Is Not My Home." I'm just starting to see LaVere's name here and there, and have only listened to a few samples of her work. But her album is endorsed by Jim Dickinson, who plays piano on four tracks. That's good enough for me.

One item only offered to select stores: In this case, Tift Merritt's live EP "Home is Loud."

Two discs no collection should be without: The Jayhawks' "Hollywood Town Hall" and Uncle Tupelo's "An Anthology: 89-93."
My criteria for judging these sites would be the number of these 15 items that they had available and the average price on the items they had in stock.

Selection
Four of the outlets � Amazon, Miles of Music, Tower and Ear X-Tacy � carried 14 of the 15 titles. Amazon and Tower had all but Tift Merritt (though it was available used through Amazon Marketplace sellers). Miles of Music and Ear X-Tacy had all but Amy LaVere. Maybe she's too new; only Amazon and Tower had her CD (though it also is available directly and through CD Baby).

Two of the sites � Electric Fetus and iTunes � had only 11 of the titles in stock. E-Fetus was missing James McMurtry, Marty Stuart, Amy LaVere and Tift Merritt, while iTunes didn't have LaVere or Merritt and offered only "partial albums" for Robbie Fulks and Uncle Tupelo.

The remainder of the sites had 13 of the 15 titles.

Average price
There was no surprise here. iTunes offered the lowest average price per album � $10.42 � and was more than $2 less than the next nearest competitor, Buy.com. The downside is either a big deal or no big deal, depending on your preference: no booklet and cover art.
Miles of Music had the highest average price, at $16.38. Also not surprising, considering that they are an independent and sell CDs that come with liner notes.

The rankings
I figured the fairest way to rank these sites was on selection and average price, providing a point value on a graduated scale for each. I then would add the points earned for average price and selection to see who graded as the best overall. Points were awarded in 5-point graduations, 50 for the best in a category and 5 for the worst.

Average price
1. (50) iTunes, $10.42
2. (45) Buy.com, $12.78
3. (40) Ear X-Tacy, $13.06
4. (35) Best Buy, $13.07
5. (30) Amazon, $13.35
6. (25) Great Escape, $13.87
7. (20) Tower, $14.47
8. (15) Barnes & Noble, $14.55
9. (10) Electric Fetus, $15.07
10. (5) Miles of Music, $16.38

Selection
Note: Since there were so many ties, I added the total points for the number of positions occupied and divided by that same number. For instance, the four outlets that each had 14 of the 15 items in stock were given 42.5 points each, the result of adding 50, 45, 40 and 35 and dividing by 4.
1. (42.5) Amazon
1. (42.5) Miles of Music
1. (42.5) Tower
1. (42.5) Ear X-Tacy
5. (22.5) Buy.com
5. (22.5) Barnes & Noble
5. (22.5) Great Escape
5. (22.5) Best Buy
9. (7.5) iTunes
9. (7.5) iTunes

Overall
1. (82.5) Ear X-Tacy
2. (72.5) Amazon
3. (67.5) Buy.com
4. (62.5) Tower
5. (57.5) iTunes
5. (57.5) Best Buy
7. (47.5) Great Escape
7. (47.5) Miles of Music
9. (37.6) Barnes & Noble
10. (17.5) Electric Fetus

Conclusions
In what I considered a mild upset, Ear X-Tacy edged Amazon in the overall ranking. That's heartening, because it shows that you don't have to count out the indie stores when you're trying to save money. It's also worth mentioning that you might be able to buy through the mail from your favorite independent record seller even if they don't normally sell music online. HickoryWind's own Stacy Chandler has such an arrangement with her favorite indie. If you have a shop you like, it can't hurt to ask. The big sellers most likely will survive without your business; the same is not true for the independents. I'd be willing to bet that most will be willing to work out a mail-order arrangement. These people are in the business because they love helping people find music.

iTunes' overall ranking is impressive considering its relatively short life span. Somebody is buying an iPod as we speak, so if they work hard to get their selection up to snuff, they will continue to be one of the defining forces in 21st century music consumption.

If you can't find it elsewhere, Amazon is pretty much king. They were one of only two sites to have the Amy LaVere CD, and by using their Marketplace sellers one could obtain all 15 CDs on my list. It's nice to know that the treasures we seek are mostly out there.

I also discovered that I'm a hopeless record wonk who has too much time on his hands.

Disclaimers
Shipping was not factored into this survey, because I don't have the time to work up 10 purchases online so I can determine exact shipping charges. On single CDs, I'd be willing to bet that most of these sites are going to be pretty close in what they charge for shipping. Some offer free shipping when you spend a certain amount. I was only concerned with average retail price. Shipping of course is a factor in the real world. If you can buy it down the street for less than you can buy it online with shipping, of course you're going to buy it down the street. But online stores often have the advantage over retail stores in that they can offer a greater selection and greater convenience if you don't live near a music seller.

This was a pretty broad survey, and not intended to be scientific. If you chose a list containing 15 different CDs, the outcome might be entirely different (but most likely only slightly different). Also, we rarely get the opportunity to by 15 CDs at once (not often enough, anyway). On a case-by-case basis, when shopping for one item at a time, you're likely to have a positive experience with any of them. Electric Fetus ranked lowest overall, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't give them my business. I've had positive shopping experiences with most of the outlets on the list.
Some of these outlets offer used CDs, which are always a good way to save money. Half.com also can yield pretty good deals. Sales come and go, as do offers of free shipping. Artists offer some titles only to indie stores, as a way of keeping a measure of competitive balance. You can take an educated guess as to your least expensive option, but only by shopping around will you know for sure. If you're anything like me (and if you've made it this far, you are), time spent shopping for music is time well spent.