It’s probably safe to say that price comparison sites are getting a little tedious. Of course they can be useful for things like car insurance, but nonetheless there has been such an explosion of such sites, and their accompanying TV adverts, in recent months that it can be easy to switch off when hearing about a new one. Well, Tunechecker.com looks to be that very rare thing which goes against the grain: a welcome and essential new price comparison site.
The site is pretty simple and does exactly what you’d expect – providing price comparison services for individual songs and albums from all the major online music retailers, from iTunes to Tesco. With the market being extremely variable (the current info shows that the lowest prices vary in terms of retailer quite drastically depending on the album/song), this new tool looks like being a great asset to consumers of legal music downloads, and is just the tonic in this current time of rapid proliferation of suppliers.
One interesting thing emerges from a quick visit to Tunechecker however, and it is aptly pointed out by the Guardian tech team in their feature about the site: iTunes is NEVER the cheapest option, and often charges more than double the price of other retailers for music. Once iPod and iPhone users realise that they can use other retailers to buy music, and that Tunechecker will show them exactly where to go for it, things could get interesting in terms of eroding Apple’s market share. We’ll have to wait and see on that issue, but for now it’s probably enough to say that Tunechecker represents a very welcome and significant addition to the online music sector.
Dejan Levi