While we lament the shrinking number and size of classical music retail stores (and the annoyingly inapt classification of all music by “song” and “artist” rather than by “composer” and “work”), the online music business has provided some fringe benefits for early dancers. Instead of having to buy a whole CD just for the odd track used in class, now it is possible to be selective, preview individual tracks and be (almost) instantly gratified with a download.

Of course there’s nothing like the pleasure of browsing in a serious music shop, and buying real CDs for quality of recording and supporting information. So don’t forget to support our local music stores such as Fish Fine Music (http://www.fishfinemusic.com.au/) and the ABC Shops in Sydney, which in turn support local artists and the classical recording industry.

See http://www.naxos.com/buyonline.asp for an international list of retail and online suppliers.

For downloads we suggest:

Classics Online (http://www.classicsonline.com/)
Bigpond Music (http://bigpondmusic.com/) with unmetered downloads for its internet customers
iTunes

(Amazon sells physical CDs, but its music downloads are not available in Australia)