Well, as musicians, we can be proud the industry serves us as well as they do. But although breadth of choice is welcome, and competition helps keep prices down, it means there's an increasing risk you'll not make the best choice of software for your particular situation. Each product ranges in price, quality, functionality and user expertise required, so you will need to do your research.

However, before you start to research you'll need to establish your buying criteria. So what are the main considerations? I've listed what I consider to be the top five below:

If you've ever searched online for great sounding drum samples, you'll know what I mean. Free or paid, it doesn't seem to make much difference...

There's a huge variation in just how much information they provide, as well as how clear it is.

Here, I've pulled together a checklist to help make a good value match to your music style and current gear.

(I'd love to hear from you about how useful this is, or if there's something you feel is important that I've missed. Just use the comments section below...)