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Comment by lqdc13 | Hacker News Reader

I think SoundCloud is better if you are not planning on buying anything and want to listen to covers of songs you like.

Also SoundCloud front end is easily the best front end of any site I've seen before or since.

Beatport? Definitely a lot easier to buy large amounts of tracks at once.

The article points out that Bandcamp is trying to expand their Editorial staff. I think that's akin to "mission creep" or dangerously close to opening up "payola" avenues. Beatport turned un-profitable when it tried to do more than just being a download site. Now, they've (allegedly) returned to good profitability by chopping off the unwanted appendages that SFX had pushed downward. Personally I'm happy that they went back to doing what they did best...and coupons!

Disclaimer: Happy Beatport customer for 5+ years.

I remember friend having a lot of trouble using Beatport without flash.

Same goes with Soundcloud - works well 80% of the time, but then some tracks wouldn't forward and just keep loading forever. Must be some DRM involved.

I know SoundCloud is implementing DRM based on some personal tests that inspired me to write-up a quick musing:

http://medium.com/@6StringMerc/quick-thoughts-on-soundcloud-...

Not if you want lossless tracks. Beatport's lossless surcharge is absolutely insane.

A good example is 'Ils - Bohemia (Remixes & Exclusives)'. [1] This album consists of 35 tracks which in MP3 format is £18.35 inc. VAT ($20 USD).

However, should you want it in WAV or AIFF format (they don't offer FLAC) and the album suddenly costs £41.54 ($54.32 USD) due to the ridiculous £26.25 surcharge. After adding VAT @ 20% the total comes to £49.85! It would be over 7 times cheaper to buy the physical CD from Amazon [2] and rip it yourself.

I don't understand how Beatport can justify charging these exorbitant prices for lossless tracks? Even their MP3 prices aren't great compared to the competition. [3]

[1] https://www.beatport.com/release/bohemia-remixes-and-exclusi...

[2] https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0007XTOB6

[3] http://www.junodownload.com/products/ils-bohemia-remixes-exc...

Their target audience is DJs, and a lot of their catalogue is only available there or on limited-print vinyls. If you can buy an album elsewhere or on CD, don't buy it on beatport.

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