Rhapsody by Real Networks...The Very Best Online Music Service, Period!
Written: Feb 12 '06
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I'll be the first to admit that I am most likely one of the biggest music lovers that you will ever come across. I truly enjoy every genre of music, and if you take a look at my enormous CD collection, you will find everything from Country, Hip-Hop, Heavy Metal, Rock, etc. You name it, it's probably there. I am always on the lookout for the newest, latest, and greatest ways that I can enjoy my music. When I saw a TV commercial for an online music service called Rhapsody last year, I decided that it wouldn't hurt to check it out. I'm so glad that I did!
Rhapsody is an online music service that is offered by Real Networks. To start off, you go to http://www.rhapsody.com, and you download the Rhapsody Jukebox. The jukebox software is free!
About the Jukebox Software...
To support the Jukebox software, your system must meet the following requirements: You must have Windows XP, Me, 2000, or 98 SE, 350 MHz, 380 MB of hard drive space, and 64 MB of Ram. Unfortunately, the Jukebox is not available for Mac or Linux users.
Features of the Rhapsody Jukebox...
Play all of your music. You can listen to and manage all of your digital music files in one convenient place.
Manage your music. Rhapsody lets you organize all of your music in a truly awesome library. You can sort your music files by artist name, genre, album name, time length, or Rhapsody type (subscription, purchased, or imported). The library has special search and browse features as well. With your library, the music you want is always just a mouse click away.
Import CDs. Do you have a CD collection (like I do) that you want to listen to with your Rhapsody jukebox? Importing your CDs is a snap. With the jukebox open, just pop your CD into your CD/DVD drive, and the complete track listing will appear on the screen. You can choose to import the entire CD, or pick and choose only the songs that you want from the CD by checking them off, and then clicking the "import CD" button.
Burn CDs. Burning CDs is a breeze with Rhapsody's high-speed CD burner. You can mix songs from your personal CD collection and songs that you purchase on Rhapsody to create the ultimate, perfect CD. Just click on the "Burn" tab under the Mixer on the left side of your screen. Then simply drag and drop songs from your library into the Mixer. When you are done, insert a blank CD-R disc into your disc drive and click the "burn" button. (Note: you MUST purchase the songs that you download from Rhapsody before you can burn them to a CD.)
Transfer music to a portable device. I have enjoyed using Rhapsody so much to listen to music on my computer and to burn custom CDs, so much so that I was inspired to purchase my first MP3 player (a Sandisk Sansa M200 2GB). It's just as simple to transfer music to a MP3 player as it is to burn a CD. Once again using the Mixer on the left side of the screen, click on the "Transfer" tab. Drag and drop your songs from your library into the Mixer. When you are done, connect your device to your computer with a USB cable, and click "transfer". Rhapsody supports over 100 portable devices, including iPod. (Note: you MUST purchase the songs that you download before you can transfer them to a device.)
Play music on your home stereo. Although I have not yet tried this, if you can connect your computer to your home stereo, you can play any song in your library (purchased, imported, or downloaded) on your home stereo. Unfortunately, I'm not technically savvy enough to figure out how to do this, although I'd sure love to!
Buy music. Purchase songs from Rhapsody's integrated music download store. Single songs are $0.99 apiece, and most albums are $9.99. With a catalog of over 1.5 million songs to choose from, you can find almost anything that you could want to listen to. If you are a Rhapsody Unlimited or a Rhapsody To Go subscriber, you get a 10% discount on all purchases.
Subscription Options
Rhapsody offers two great subscription options; Rhapsody Unlimited and Rhapsody to Go.
With Rhapsody Unlimited, you have unlimited access to every song in Rhapsody's 1.5 million song library. You get to listen to full length songs, not just 30 second clips, and you can listen to every song as many times as you want to. Based on the music that you listen to, Rhapsody gives you personalized music recommendations, and you get 10% off all purchased downloads. The purchase price is $9.99 a month, or you can pay for an entire year at $99.99, which breaks down to just $8.33 a month. (Note: this is the subscription option that I have chosen, at the $99.99 rate.)
With Rhapsody To Go, you can fill and re-fill your MP3 player with subscription music without purchasing any individual songs. The rate for this option is $14.99 a month. You can also purchase songs and albums with a 10% discount with this subscription option.
However, even if you choose not to become a subscriber, you can still purchase songs and albums for $.99 and $9.99, respectively. You just will not be able to listen to full length songs; just 30 second clips.
Navigating the Jukebox...
The Jukebox software is so user friendly that the most technically unsavvy person could navigate it effortlessly. The search box is near the top of the screen where you can search by artist, song, album, keyword, or composer. On the Rhapsody Music Guide, you can browse by genre, view new releases, view staff picks, and receive recommendations.
Miscellaneous...
Rhapsody also offers commercial-free radio listening, and you can customize radio stations to play just the music you enjoy, you can create and share playlists of your favorite music by genre, decade, artist, etc., and you can also view and listen to other users' playlists as well.
Drawbacks...
I've only stumbled across a few drawbacks to Rhapsody. First of all, despite having a 1.5 million song library, not every song you search for is available. Or, certain songs are only available in 30 second clips, even if you are a subscriber, and you have to purchase the song if you want to listen to the whole song. This is because some artists simply haven't given the rights to Rhapsody for their music. However, more music is added to Rhapsody every day, and if a song that you want is not available now, it might very well become available in the future.
Second, don't even think about trying to use Rhapsody if you use a dial-up internet service. The only way that you can use Rhapsody is with a Broadband connection.
Final Thoughts...
Hands down, Rhapsody is the best online music service for music lovers. At any given time when I am on my computer, I either have the jukebox open on my screen or minimized on my toolbar, and I am ALWAYS listening to my music with Rhapsody. Download it and subscribe today. You won't regret it!
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Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Staceygill
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Member: Stacey
Location: North Carolina
Reviews written: 56
Trusted by: 31 members
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