Is it better/cheaper to use amazon or itunes for music downloads?

Use http://www.youtube-mp3.org/ it's free.

Amazon usually charges 99 cents and itunes usually charges $1.29. However, I would subscribe to spotify for $10 month or $5 if you are a college student. You can offline download in spotify as long as you are a member, they have 20 million tracks. Xbox music is good too they have 30 million songs.

If you buy MP3s from Amazon, you own them and they can't be removed from you. I believe iTunes can reach into your machine and delete stuff if they feel like.