Uploud review
Uploud.com website
| www.uploud.com | Site up since 2004? |
Uploud is the French entry to the music download game, interestingly enough offered in French, English and Mandarin. The site offers music in a long list of Wikipedia-defined sub genres, but is it just me or does all of it have a house or jazz flavour? Uploud has managed to make the catalog look big, but I doubt that – for now at least.
Sold files are in non-protected CBR 256 Kbps MP4/AAC format and you've got two days to download the tracks from the site.
| Format | Quality | Price |
|---|---|---|
| MP4/AAC | 256 Kbps | €1.50, albums for €12.50 |
The good looking user interface of Uploud.com would need some thought in the details. For example, pressing the preview icon doesn't play preview but opens a track listing in a new window. To actually hear the 2 minute RealAudio preview you have to scan the track list for the track you want and press a preview icon again. Help is clearly available on every page, although it opens one more new window. There is some value in being able to have a list of tracks or the help open while you continue to browse the site, but I would certainly weigh the benefits against the added confusion of having windows open and close automatically.
Checkout was handled by WorldPay, as is the case with many sites. Payment is by credit card only and supported cards are VISA and MasterCard. Usability-wise I think the outsourced checkout process is never the optimal solution, but it worked well enough and I was able to download my copy of Portrait Robot by Oscar.
| Previous: Trax2burn | Back to list of shops | Next: Uptown Records |