10 Best Sources To Download Lossless Music
VOX music player is the one that stands out of the crowd when we talk about the playback of the lossless music. But when it comes to the lossless music itself, where do you get it?
We have decided to browse the web thoroughly and list the sources where you can get your favorite music tracks in lossless formats. Here we go with our pick of the best 10.
1. HDtracks
Formats: FLAC, ALAC, AIFF, WAV
Random Artists: David Bowie, Madonna, El Cortesano, Maroon 5, Enya
*Most common price range per album in lossless format: $12.98–$41.08
Get 15% off for purchasing music on HDtracks with “VOXHD15″ promo code. One time use per customer. The code expires Dec. 31, 2015.
Just by typing in Google Search bar “hd tracks” you get HDtracks.com as the top result. That is not only due to the service’s marketing achievement, but also the longtime presence on the market.
HDtracks was launched in 2008. In general, the service is the one any audiophile probably should already know well. It has tens of thousands of hi-res albums, tracks are not sold separately. Low-res albums are also available. The company ensures that all files sold on its site are true to the formats they are listed by on the site.
The service does not only offer the division by genres. It collects music into the categories like “Classic 100 Rock”, “British Invasion”, “Top Hi-Res Female Vocalists”, “Audiophile Picks”, “Best Contemporary Pop Artists” and others. It’s possible to browse the songs by the recording labels too.
HDtracks accepts Visa, American Express, Mastercard and PayPal.
2. ProStudioMasters
Formats: FLAC, AIFF, DSF/DSD
Random Artists: The Weeknd, Lionel Richie, Amy Winehouse, Don Henley
*Most common price range per album in lossless format: $6.99–$74.99
Get 20% off for purchasing music on ProStudioMasters with “VOX20″ promo code.
ProStudioMasters positions itself as a premium hi-res online music store, available for residents of the United States and Canada. It sells music in albums provided directly by the major independent record labels (ProStudioMasters claims), not the media transfers. This can be a solid guarantee for the users that they are purchasing original products of high value.
ProStudioMasters offers music in uncompressed AIFF and FLAC formats without Digital Rights Management. Prices vary greatly as well as the range of different discounts. The ProStudioMasters website offers the music division by genres such as Alternative, Blues, Classical, Country, Francophone, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, and others.
In the Top Sellers bar, one can discover many albums on sale with up to 30% discount.
3. 7digital
Formats: FLAC, M4A, MP3
Random Artists: Kurt Cobain, Little Mix, Miike Snow, Sia, Eric Church, Ciara
*Most common price range per album in lossless format: $9.99–$24.99
7digital is available in a wide range of countries, but one can shop by choosing “worldwide” as the location too. It is possible to buy whole albums as well as separate tracks for up to $1.99 per track.
The collection of music 7digital holds quite modernized, considering there are many hit tracks from Billboard, for instance. One can find such performers as Justin Bieber or Sia here. There are lots of “old school” tracks too.
The content is categorized into the “New Albums”, “New Tracks”, “Deals of the Week”, and “Hi-Res/FLAC” tabs. There is also the section with the interviews of different artists. One can also find the top picks of the year in “Best of 2015 so far” and “Best of 2014” lists.
Credit cards (including Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Maestro) as well as PayPal are accepted by 7digital.
4. Bleep
Formats: FLAC, MP3, WAV (also nondigital Vinyl, CD, Cassette)
Random Artists: Gaika, Herva, SPR, Slam, Jean Nipon, Lotic
*Most common price range per album in lossless format: $11.99–$14.99
There are all types of music formats that Bleep sells. It even has vinyls and cassettes to offer to the audiophiles with the most exquisite music preferences. We, however, are much more interested in something more flexible, something we can load on a music player on Mac, for instance, and take with us on a plane or to the gym.
Bleep sells tracks both in albums and separately. The price for a FLAC track can go up to $1.99. One can find all sorts of categories that music is devised by on Bleep.
At the top of the website all available formats are showcased. There is also a tab that leads to the genres of music available on Bleep. The club-goers and those keen on electronic music in general, will find themselves interested in a huge range of dubstep, bass, techno, house, disco.
Bleep accepts credit cards (VISA, Mastercard, and Switch), Paypal and SMS payment as forms of payment.
5. Zunior
Formats: MP3, FLAC (also nondigital CD)
Random Artists: Elliot Brood, Cowlick, Whitehorse, Wintersleep
*Most common price range per album in lossless format: $10.88
Zunior is the online seller of hi-res and low-res music based in Canada. It’s been on the market since 2004, so for Canadians it might be even a question of patriotism whether to buy from Zunior or not.
For anyone else Zunior can also be another competitive service that offers pretty good deals, selling FLAC albums with complete artwork, unrestricted and without DRM.
All albums on Zunior are available for $8.88 as high-quality MP3. It is also possible to pay an extra $2.00 and get your music in FLAC. You can pay for your downloads via VISA and Mastercard. Another obvious option is PayPal.
6. Boomkat
Formats: MP3, FLAC, WAV (also nondigital CD and Vinyl)
Random Artists: Vision Heat, Heather Leigh, Sneaker, Ellen Fullman
*Most common price range per album in lossless format: ~$4.44-$13.53
Boomkat is a handy online seller of high-quality music from the U.K. It used to be just a small offline record shop in Manchester back in 1998. The service has been online since 2002, selling vinyls, CDs, cassettes and hi-res digital tracks to over 100 countries.
Boomkat may not store a huge diversity of tracks starting with Drake and ending with London Symphony Orchestra. Instead, it’s more of an aggregator of commonly overlooked artists and their work. There are more well-known works to choose from as well.
Its music directory can be easily navigated through the convenient filter by format, status, date added and genre.
Boomkat supports Visa, Delta, Maestro, Mastercard, Solo, British issued Electron cards, as well as payments via Paypal.
7. Addictech
Formats: MP3, FLAC, WAV
Random Artists: Dreazz, Janaka Selekta, Mouldy Soul, Neuropol, Tribone
*Most common price range per album in lossless format: $3.00-$10.50
Addictech is a source of both hi-res and low-res electronic music. Its cover image on Facebook page says “Music is the drug”. So apparently, it is so in fact for the customers of this U.S.-based service.
Addictech sorts the music due to a variety of genres and the dates of the releases. It also provides its own top 10 Chart, the list of the recommended tracks, and the Pre-Sales category.
It also has a section with the free tracks. Prices for FLACs are relatively low on Addictech. The fans of the country music won’t find it a fascinating place to shop for FLACs, though.
Credit cards and PayPal payments are accepted on Addictech.
8. Merge Records
Formats: MP3, FLAC (also nondigital Vinyl and CD)
Random Artists: Benji Hughes, Poison Season, Turkey, HeCTA
*Most common price range per album in lossless format: $3.49-$27.99
Merge Records started out as a record label. In 2014 it celebrated its 25th birthday. Throughout its rather long history, the company remained strict about its music standards. Now those standards make up the high quality of music that is being sold on the website.
The website itself is a blend of the shop and the label’s presentation. It’s possible to find the lists of the new albums releases, the tours, the artists.
Merge Records also has an attractive holiday offer right now. Once you make a purchase for over $50, you get 20% off the total price with MERRYMERGE coupon. We just thought that you would like to know.
The store only accepts Visa and MasterCard credit cards.
9. Djshop
Formats: MP3, WAV, MP4, FLAC (also nondigital Vinyl and CD)
Random Artists: Mike Newman, MOONBOOTICA, David Guetta
*Most common price range per album in lossless format: $13.99
Djshop’s name says pretty much a lot for itself. The service offers a whole bunch of high-quality content that DJs and well, club-goers, enjoy. A lot on its website is in German, but it is possible to get around without being a fluent German speaker.
There is a big range of underground, black, rock, pop, and other DJ compilations. Real DJ charts make another huge asset for the service. FLAC music is sold not only in albums, but as separate tracks too for about $1.49 per track.
The essential part of the service is the vinyl store. There is a huge selection of vinyls for those who crave to be unique and consume premium class music.
The service accepts Visa, MasterCard, and American Express.
10. MusicZeit
Formats: MP3, FLAC
Random Artists: Scattered Thoughts, Hall of Memory, Cloudsurfing
*Most common price range per album in lossless format: $11.24–$12.99
MusicZeit is the U.K.-based online seller of low-res and hi-res full albums only without DRM. It provides extended artworks within the albums and there is no possibility to purchase tracks separately.
One great thing about this service is that there is usually one, and often several, high-quality track samples for each album. This way the user can try out the quality of what he is about to pay for.
It’s also important to know that the service does not support PayPal and likewise payment methods amid the major credit and debit card services accepted by Sage Pay.
So this is our pick of the 10 best sources to download lossless music. Do you have anything else on your mind? Any service you think deserves the spot or you just enjoy using it, so you would like to mention it to our followers?
Go ahead! Feel free to submit your responses below. We’ll be glad to hear your thoughts.
Stay tuned for more reads from VOX!
*Prices listed in this post correspond to the random selection of the prices each service provided for various albums as seen on Nov. 24, 2015. They are a subject to raise or decrease due to the companies’ decisions. The presented lows and highs might not be the lowest or the highest variants the websites offer.