Is anyone familiar with the classical music selection on Xbox Music http://www.xbox.com/music?

If they have a really good classical music selection, I probably will get it. If not, I won't. Is it comparable to Spotify (which I adore)? Happy New Year!

I am not familiar with it, does it come free with live? If so what is the harm, maybe less commercial, but spotify has a pretty dang good selection.

I don't know anything about the XBOX music service, but Microsoft has a pretty bad history when it comes to music services (think Zune!)

I always think it's better to use the iTunes or Amazon music stores. With streaming services like Xbox and Spotify, the artists get cut out of most of the royalties. For more obscure things, Arkivmusic is a great source. Buying music directly is a much better way to support the artists.

Do you know how much artists usually get from, say, an album purchase?

It depends on the contract the artists have with their labels/distributors. (Since the label own the rights to the albums, they're the ones who get paid by iTunes, Spotify, etc...)

http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/09/03/less-than-a-stinkin-cent/

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/ar...-itunes/260678/

For independent artists using a service like CDBaby or TuneCore, the deal is better:

http://members.cdbaby.com/cd-baby-cost.aspx

http://www.tunecore.com/index/how_it_works