Rhapsody

seattleniceguy

I've just signed up for Rhapsody, the online subscription music service, and I have to say, it is pretty cool.

For those that are unfamiliar with the service, in a nutshell it is this:

Listen to any music you want streaming to your computer from their collection of 1 million songs and 60,000 artists
Monthly fee is $9.95
Purchase tracks to burn to CD for $0.79 each

First, I have to say that I have never been a fan of Real Networks, and had I known that Rhapsody was their invention before I downloaded, frankly, I may have let that prejudice affect me. And, I should complain that their client is quite processor intensive (my task manager shows my proc hovering at 40% when the app is open). However, the service is so compelling that none of that really matters.

Here's the deal. This service totally changes the way you think about music. Remember how ubiquitous Internet access changed the way you thought about information? Remember those moments when you would be debating with a friend about something and then suddenly you would realize, "Hey, let's just look it up"? That's what Rhapsody does for music.

You're driving home and you hear a great song on the radio. The DJ comes on and says, "That was so-and-so," and you think, "Boy, I should go to the record store and buy some of their stuff." But then suddenly you realize, "Whoa, I could listen to them right now!" It's a really incredible paradigm shift.

Right now I'm working through the backlog of artists that I always thought I should listen to more of when I have some money to buy some music. It's a really liberating feeling.

Now, I should note that Napster has a similar product (almost identical, it seems) so you might want to check that out as well. I'm actually going to give it a shot here because I seriously have issues with Real's ability to deliver a good client app. But the concept of a subscription music service has foverer changed my way of approaching music.

SNG

cypher50

First, I have to say that I have never been a fan of Real Networks, and had I known that Rhapsody was their invention before I downloaded, frankly, I may have let that prejudice affect me. And, I should complain that their client is quite processor intensive (my task manager shows my proc hovering at 40% when the app is open). However, the service is so compelling that none of that really matters.

Just to let you know, Rhapsody isn't a Real Networks invention...Real just happened to buy the company a year ago. I have had the service for two years (since they switched from their original classical music only format) and I love it because I can listen to new singles & artists who don't get any radio airtime. If I like an artist after listening to some of their music on Rhapsody then I will buy their CDs....Rhapsody has helped me learn about a lot of different genres and I would recommend it to anybody who likes to listen to all types of music. It is especially great for stuff like Jazz & Classical music...

Pleasuredome

funny you should mention it. i tried to sign up to it yesterday but i'm not allowed 'cos i'm in the UK.

AlmostAtheist

Being the cheap b@stard that I am, I've been using http://allofmp3.com for a few weeks now. It's a Russian site and I haven't talked myself into trusting them with a credit card yet, but once you're signed up (just your name and email address) you can download what they call "low quality evaluation samples" for free which to my tin ears are just fine.

And I know what you mean about Real, their name on it -- regardless of its origins -- would turn me away as well. Might as well say AOL.

Dave

Confession

Curious, folks... What has been your experience with filesharing sites such as Limewire? I find I'm able to download whatever I need free of charge. Do you consider it risky? Thanks in advance.

tijkmo

was gonna try on your rec but im in uk too so prob wont work for me either...as it is i use msn...no monthly fee ..just pay as you go...cds £6.99 and single tracks 69p...thats more expensive than rhapsody...but i dont buy anymore...cos for 1p you can listen to any single track and it stacks them for the day..(or as long as comp is on) so you can listen over and over....so a whole cd costs u 12/13p for as long as you want...i figure that at that rate if i bought it for 6.99 i would have to listen to it about 60/70 times before it paid for itself which i probably wont do with anything im not going to go buy from a shop so as to have the cd cover..lyrics..details etc

for some reason i dont like napster though...too fussy

Pleasuredome

tijkmo,

what is the quality of the mp3 that u pay 1p for from msn?

seattleniceguy

cypher50,

Thanks for the clarification. I noticed that when I first downloaded the client, it didn't seem much like a Real application. No gel edges or curved corners, and the app worked fast. But they just came out with a new version, which has been totally Real-ified. Bummer. I'm going to check out Napster today or tomorrow and see if I like their service any better.

Confession,

My take on Limewire is that one should avoid using it if at all possible, for the following reasons:

I'm a software developer, so I know how much work it is to write and test software, so I think software should be licensed properly, on principle.
Software developers are usually paid well. But most musicians struggle, even many who "make it big." Free music hurts them. Services like Rhapsody are a good deal to the consumer, and they pay the artist properly. I think artists deserve to be paid for their creations.
Free file sharing services are overrun with viruses, worms, and trojan. Use carefully.
Several hundred people have been sued for illegal file sharing.

All in all, it's just not a good bet in my book. But that's just my take.

SNG

drwtsn32

I don't know about these kinds of services. I suppose if I could play the music anywhere and at any time I'd be interested, but it would have to be very high fidelity (CD quality). DRM and sound quality are my major complaints with online music stores.

I want to listen to my music in at least four places: on my PC, on my home theater system, in my car, and on my portable music player. Currently the only way I can purchase music that will play everywhere and sound CD quality is if I buy the CD! I rip all my CDs to the highest quality MP3 file possible (320kbps CBR) then put the CD on a shelf.

Now I can listen to those files on my PC, stream them to the Squeezebox hooked up to my home theater receiver, burn a mix of MP3s to CD for play in my car, or put the MP3s on my portable player (Sony NW-HD3: 20GB, smaller than an iPod, has better battery life, and looks better IMO).

DRM prevents me from doing whatever I want with the music I purchase online. Yeah, I could burn it to a CD then re-rip to MP3, but the sound quality is going to suffer. For now I'm happy with buying CDs. :)

Princess

Geez Doc...you're picky. If I can have some sort of music blaring in my ears while I run, I'm happy. But not Tenacious D. It makes me laugh to hard to run and people look at me funny.

Rhapsody

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