Amazon.com - The big brother in on-line retailing of books, CD's, videos and nowadays just about everything else. The North American and UK websites have a surprisingly large music selection of lesser-known genres and titles and they ship internationally. You can also find new and used CD's through private sellers via the Amazon Marketplace which is a godsend if you're looking for albums from seminal ambient labels that no longer exist like 90's icons Silent Records and Instinct Ambient.

Ambient.Us - An online retail store devoted exclusively to full album downloads. A very impressive range of downtempo music can be purchased here at decent prices. A broadband connection is essential.

Ear-Rational Music - Reliable and well-regarded North American mail order site that ships worldwide. Especially good for German electronica like Fax Records and Klaus Schulze.

eMusic.com - Although it recently sold its soul to corporate music interests, eMusic's specialty was orginally serving a global market with independent label music including albums that were out-of-print on CD. These days plenty of independant label music is still available on the site but unfortunately a blanket deal in 2009 with corporate giant Sony Music meant that eMusic is now blocking site access to to customers in many countries outside the USA including Australia and New Zealand. Yet people in those same countries can still buy CD's from U.S. stores like Amazon.com. Conclusion: the big record companies still don't get the internet and are using their muscle to: 1) deny buyers choice, and 2) block overseas purchases so they can overcharge customers in their home country through discriminatory price practices. No wonder free P2P filesharing networks are so popular.

I-Tunes - This trailblazer in legal music downloads is an obvious choice, and beyond all the mainstream acclaim you'll find a good deal of underground downtempo and ambient music here too. At the insistance of the big record companies, Apple originally only sold .AAC audio files with ridiculous DRM copy protection (Digital Rights Management) meaning that the iTunes Media Player and iPod portables were the only methods of playing the music you purchased. However the range of music for sale now inlcudes DRM-free MP3 versions of some albums at a higher price.

Psyshop - Reliable online store based in Germany stocking a huge range of psychedelic and progressive trance and the various downtempo offshoots of those styles.

Shopsonic - Excellent online shop selling releases from labels like Emit, Interchill and Ultimae Records.

Synth Music Direct - UK-based retailer, name says all. Helpful reviews too.

HOME