Hatrack River Forum: Where does Rhapsody fit in?

This is topic Where does Rhapsody fit in? in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by lem (Member # 6914) on :

I know iTunes is for iPods and Urge is for Zunes, but what is Rhapsody for?

Is that a way to buy non proprietary music?

I have an iPod and free Rhapsody music I can download.

Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :

Yes, I think that is the idea. To be able to buy music in a format that anything can read. I use it sometimes to find obscure classical pieces that I can't necessarily find on iTunes. [Smile]

Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :

Last I'd heard, Rhapsody had all kinds of DRM, was hard to deal with, and wasn't playable on iPods. Has that changed?

For online downloads, my personal favorites are Emusic and Amazon's new download service. Both of those sites have high bitrate (compared to regular iTunes), DRM-free mp3 files that are pretty much universally compatible. Because they're DRM-free, the selection is a little limited sometimes (some of the major labels have a problem with that), but anything that I can't find one of those places is usually available pretty cheap on CD, so it gets me by.

Emusic requires a subscription, which is a little annoying. But it's cheaper than dirt, so if you know you're going to be downloading a lot of music (which I do), it's the best alternative. It mainly deals with indie labels, which is probably how it gets the music so cheaply, but I've found some phenomenally good stuff through them that would have been unavailable or prohibitively expensive on CD.

Amazon has a somewhat more mainstream selection. It's quite a bit more expensive than Emusic (although still usually cheaper than iTunes), but it doesn't require any kind of commitment, so if you're an infrequent downloader it might suit you better.

I've never heard any good stories about Rhapsody, but maybe they've changed since I last checked, so I'll be interested to hear any personal opinions.

Posted by lem (Member # 6914) on :

A follow up to this is...what mp3 player do you recommend and why?

I know a little about iPods (I have one) and Zunes. But there are also Scandisk's Sansas and Samsung's P2, K3, and other odd titled devices.

Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :

I just got a cool mp3 player, so I'll tell you about it. I mainly wanted one for jogging, and I needed one that would work like a thumb drive, as I can't install iTunes on my work computer. So I picked up a 2GB Sandisk Sansa Clip that I absolutely love.

Unlike iPods, you don't have to use any proprietary software to make the Sansa work. It connects to the USB port, and any computer you plug it into will instantly recognize it. You can drag music to it (and from it) just like any external drive, and it automatically recognizes it and plays it.

Also, it's light, cheap, has a good battery, is solid-state so it won't skip, and the navigation is very easy and intuitive.

I don't know if your criteria are the same as mine. If you want something that plays movies or does some of the other high-tech iPod stuff, this might not be the best. But it really hit the spot for me.