Rhapsody.com

[MI mom of 3]

Do any of you use this? From what I understand for $14.99 a month I can download as many songs as I want. Is it really that easy and can I put them on my iPod?

After paying $.99 each for all of my songs on iTunes this just sounds too good to be true.

Any info or advice is appreciated.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

I would love to know the answer to this as well.

 

[Soarin08]

http://www.rhapsody.com/home.html

Here's their website. That should tell you everything and answer any questions.

 

[JR6ooo4]

I used to have the service. I mostly liked being able to listen to any song in full length, instead of a 30 second preview. Do they still do that?

Mikeeee

 

[TriMom]

Listening to Rhapsody right now I love it! I have no idea if it works with an ipod.... I don't have one. But I do have a Rhapsody compatible mp3 player - and yes, for $14.99 a month I can put any song on Rhapsody on my player. I can listen to any song on my computer. I can not burn them to CD, but there is a package that lets you do that - I think.

Also coke rewards has Rhapsody coupons, so if I drink 10 12 packs a month then my Rhapsody is free!

 

[bicker]

I don't have Rhapsody's subscription service, but rather I have a Zune Pass from the Zune Marketplace, which is very similar: $15 per month for unlimited music, that you can carry with you on your portable device. However, just like with the Zune Pass, you must be using a subscription-compatible device to listen to music tracks from the subscription service. For Rhapsody, your MP3 player must be Rhapsody-compatible (link). For Zune Pass, you must use a Zune (link).

Of course, all these services (iTunes, Rhapsody, Zune Marketplace, as well as Amazon.com, and dozens of other places) sell MP3s (for about a dollar each track, typically), but this is the model that the OP is looking for an alternative to. I believe the subscription model ($15 per month for unlimited music) is offered only by Rhapsody and Zune Marketplace. It is a very significant competitive advantage that Rhapsody-compatible devices and Zunes have over all other MP3 players.

 

[bicker]

I just checked (because I was curious)... My wife and I have downloaded a total of 3,670 tracks from Zune Marketplace, via the subscription service, since we started using it earlier this year. We probably don't listen to all of those songs every month, but my wife has logged 19,974 plays, and I have logged 7,010 plays, since we've started the subscription service. I know I've gone from listening to practically no music, to carrying my Zune with me practically all the time, and enjoying it greatly. The impact of the subscription service is most noticeable in that we're listening, now, primarily to artists we recently discovered, rather than, as was our tendency before, just the same old artists that we've been listening to for decades. I cannot say enough good things about subscription music -- whether you go with Rhapsody or Zune, I don't think you can go wrong.

However, one thing that recently changed may push you towards Zune instead of Rhapsody: Now, for the same $15 per month, you not only get the unlimited music subscription service, but you also get to choose 10 tracks each month for which you can download DRM-free MP3s -- i.e., these are tracks you can keep forever, even after your subscription lapses. If you figure you're buying 10 tracks a month already, at $1 a piece, that means the unlimited music subscription service is only costing $5 per month. A very good deal.

 

[DebbieB]

I don't think you can put them on an I-POD. I wish I-Tunes had a monthy subscription.

 

[soupy11]

I just checked (because I was curious)... My wife and I have downloaded a total of 3,670 tracks from Zune Marketplace, via the subscription service, since we started using it earlier this year. We probably don't listen to all of those songs every month, but my wife has logged 19,974 plays, and I have logged 7,010 plays, since we've started the subscription service. I know I've gone from listening to practically no music, to carrying my Zune with me practically all the time, and enjoying it greatly. The impact of the subscription service is most noticeable in that we're listening, now, primarily to artists we recently discovered, rather than, as was our tendency before, just the same old artists that we've been listening to for decades. I cannot say enough good things about subscription music -- whether you go with Rhapsody or Zune, I don't think you can go wrong.

However, one thing that recently changed may push you towards Zune instead of Rhapsody: Now, for the same $15 per month, you not only get the unlimited music subscription service, but you also get to choose 10 tracks each month for which you can download DRM-free MP3s -- i.e., these are tracks you can keep forever, even after your subscription lapses. If you figure you're buying 10 tracks a month already, at $1 a piece, that means the unlimited music subscription service is only costing $5 per month. A very good deal.

And the music business doesn't like digital media????? You sound like a success story for them!

 

[bicker]

I wish I-Tunes had a monthy subscription.

I'm sure that the folks at Rhapsody and Microsoft (Zune) love reading stuff like that.

 

[bicker]

And the music business doesn't like digital media????? You sound like a success story for them!

True, but am I typical?? Online polls are worthless, of course, but just looking at some of them, the news isn't good for the music business. In one, well over half the respondents acknowledge obtaining music in violation of its licensing (i.e., they steal it), at least sometimes. There is no denying that revenues are down far more than can be attributed to decline in interest in listening to music. People try to rationalize this by saying that the industry needs to listen to what the customers are saying, but the reality is that what many of the customers are saying is that if they can steal they will -- that's not customer feedback, it's blackmail.