Q. How does it work?

When you type in a song or album, it zips to nine major music download retailers to find the best price. In some cases, these are already stored, as the site also repeatedly builds a database of prices by scanning the various retailers every 24 hours.

There can be small pricing errors between scan times. If you spot any errors, please email tunechecker@tunechecker.com.Please note itunes only provides its data to external sites once a week, so its price can sometimes be out of date.

To help you search, each week, the Official Charts Company supplies us with the top 40 albums and singles, plus the R&B, classical and dance top 40s, which all get loaded into the Tunechecker.

So simply use the menu to browse the top 40, or use the search box to look for a specific artist, track or album.

Who's included?

Currently, the following retailers are included in the TuneChecker: 7digital, Amazon, Asda, Fairsharemusic, HMV, iTunes, Last.fm, Orange, Play, Tesco, TuneTribe and Zavvi. If you think we're missing a provider, please email: tunechecker@tunechecker.com.

Q. Are they DRM free tracks?

Yes. DRM (Digital Rights Management) software is designed to control how a file can downloaded, played, copied and shared. None of the providers in the Tunechecker use DRM to protect tracks.

Q. Is an mp3 player needed?

You don't need an MP3 player to listen to downloads. You can play them off your laptop or PC using free software like iTunes or Windows Media Player.

Q. MP3s & CDs the same?

In terms of the songs you get downloads are simply a virtual version of a CD, exactly the same minus the case the solid CD! Occasionally CDs might have extra bonus tracks or vice versa. However MP3s are a compressed version of a CD. As such it means the quality of MP3s will be slightly less than a CD, but only those with high-tech speakers or sensitive ears will be able to tell the difference.

You can compare the quality of MP3s by looking at the bit rate of the download - the higher the bit rate, usually the better the quality. Different retailers use various bit rates for tracks. We're looking to add this to info to the TuneChecker in the future.

Q. Can't find a track?

The TuneChecker lists the current top 40, the top 40 from the last five years, plus searches Amazon's entire download catalogue. Most mainstream tracks should be in there but if there's one you think is missing email tunechecker@tunechecker.com

Q. Cashback boost?

It's sometimes possible to get cashback on top. Cashback sites are websites that list retailers/product providers and get paid if you click through them. Importantly, they then give some or all of this cash to you.

If you're new to this concept, please read MoneySavingExpert.com's Best Cashback Sites guide before continuing, as while there shouldn't be a problem with these deals, the payout on cashback sites is never guaranteed. If there's a dispute with the retailer and the cashback site doesn't get paid, you don't either.