With online music sales dominated by big players including iTunes and Rhapsody (and Microsoft's soon-to-launch Zune service), the emergence of specialist download services gets very little attention.

As vinyl sales continue to plummet and record shops struggle to stay open these days, DJs and dance music afficionados have flocked to services such as the DRM-free offerings of Bleep, and Beatport for the latest vinyl-only releases and remixes. These services have become a vital piece of the dance music industry, for labels and consumers alike. With the single serving as the principle format for dance music, these services- as well as industry leaders like iTunes- offer single tracks for download, allowing users to pick and choose which songs they want to purchase. With so much out there to choose from, being able to cherry pick a bit seems to be a real positive for many consumers.

However, there is a downside to single-track-downloading. As single songs have assumed greater importance to listeners and the retail side of the music industry, the importance of the album itself is in decline. Luckily a new specialist retailer has stepped up to help Save The Album.

Insound.com has long been a champion of underground music and it's a natural step for them to begin offering MP3 sales. However, their decision to only offer music in album format is a conscious choice to try and preserve the creative work of musicians and present it as intended.

As with other niche etailers of music, Insound is selling DRM-free MP3s, which can be used in any digital music device, further enabling consumer choice. With a growing sales base and half a million visitor per month, Insound stands a chance of making a real impact and doing what they have set out to do: save the album.

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