PayPlay.FM Reviewer's Comments

PayPlay.FM is a fun and unique independent music download site that offers DRM protected WMA and DRM free MP3 titles. PlayPlay specializes in independent music and has about 1.6 million songs. This means if you are looking for top 40 hits we suggest the #1 service iTunes for those with iPods, or the #2 service, Rhapsody, for those with PlaysforSure players.

We loved the unique and inventive way PayPlay addresses the music download world. Not only can you search for music by genre and artist, but you can also browse based on your mood or a particular music type. One of our favorite features about this service is the “match” feature. Using “match” you can type in one of your favorite mainstream artist and PayPlay.FM will suggest other bands and albums with similar musical qualities.

Another unique quality PayPlay offers is karma points. Just for singing up for the service you get 25 free karma points. You can use your karma points for free downloads on select albums (we found that many albums have at least one karma track.)

This is one of the cheaper music download services we evaluated. WMA tracks are $.77 and MP3s are $.88; albums are $7.77 and $8.88 respectively. However, unlike many of the other music download services in this review, you can not just buy songs individually, you have to purchase points or an account line of credit, the minimum is $5.00.