Subscription based "To Go" MP3 services?

[Pastore]

I'm sick of my iPod crashing and the thought of having any songs at my fingertips (without pirating) is attractive. A lot more attractive than my iPod has been. I'm thinking about picking up a Sandisk Sansa e250 or e260 with an unlimited music service. So what are the best for price and selection out there? The only other thing I was wondering is how quick are they to release new albums?

Thanks for any input

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Er the very nature of the .mp3 format keeps it from being subscription based...

You'd be having to buy them

 

[Pastore]

Originally posted by: BrunoPuntzJones
Er the very nature of the .mp3 format keeps it from being subscription based...

You'd be having to buy them

Huh? I'm talking about an unlimited subscription service such as Rhapsody or Yahoo music, but am looking for opinions on the different services.

 

[DaveSimmons]

He was nit-picking, the file formats used by Napster, Rhapsody, etc. are WMA and Real not MP3.

Napster is supposed to be the most reliable, but costs $15 a month. If you sign up for 3 months they'll give you a _free_ 512 MB flash player (see napster.com).

FYI, the Creative Zen V / Vision models from $80-150 (1 GB - 4 GB) are also Napster 2 Go compatible.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

yeah, i'm gonna eventually sign up for one of these...i think yahoo is like 11 bucks or so. a bit cheaper than rhapsody/napster. Also, urge on wmp11 is pretty good and is well integrated with wmp11

 

[lokiju]

Originally posted by: Pastore

Originally posted by: BrunoPuntzJones
Er the very nature of the .mp3 format keeps it from being subscription based...

You'd be having to buy them

Huh? I'm talking about an unlimited subscription service such as Rhapsody or Yahoo music, but am looking for opinions on the different services.

I think what he's getting at is that you're using the word mp3 in place of digital music since MP3 doesn't have any DRM these subscription based services will not use mp3 but something else like wma with DRM.

 

[Pastore]

Originally posted by: lokiju

Originally posted by: Pastore

Originally posted by: BrunoPuntzJones
Er the very nature of the .mp3 format keeps it from being subscription based...

You'd be having to buy them

Huh? I'm talking about an unlimited subscription service such as Rhapsody or Yahoo music, but am looking for opinions on the different services.

I think what he's getting at is that you're using the word mp3 in place of digital music since MP3 doesn't have any DRM these subscription based services will not use mp3 but something else like wma with DRM.

Ahhh ok... I understand now... My fault for using MP3 in that way. Sounds like something my dad would do.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Yeah I wasn't trying to be an ass, really thought you meant MP3.

I was gonna say, if there is an MP3 subscription service for cheap sign me up

 

[Pastore]

Bump

 

[Pastore]

Ok, I just bought the Sansa e260 and am leaning towards Rhapsody. Nobody uses these services??

 

[Pastore]

Bump for the morning crowd.

 

[CVSiN]

Originally posted by: lokiju

Originally posted by: Pastore

Originally posted by: BrunoPuntzJones
Er the very nature of the .mp3 format keeps it from being subscription based...

You'd be having to buy them

Huh? I'm talking about an unlimited subscription service such as Rhapsody or Yahoo music, but am looking for opinions on the different services.

I think what he's getting at is that you're using the word mp3 in place of digital music since MP3 doesn't have any DRM these subscription based services will not use mp3 but something else like wma with DRM.

You know there is a new tool that strips DRM from these files =)

 

[huberm]

I have used Rhapsody, Napster, and Yahoo. I liked Napster the best, and am currently using it.

Be warned, if you don't like rhapsody, it is HORRIBLE trying to get your account cancelled. They have the worst customer service. It sounds like they are using VOIP and of course none of them can speak clear english.

Overall, I think Yahoo and Napster are pretty close. I chose napster because it seems easier to use. If you find a song you like they will recommend other artists. Also, the yahoo music engine installs all kinds of stupid crap that I didn't care for (ie yahoo toolbar, among other things).

 

[huberm]

 

[Pastore]

Originally posted by: huberm
I have used Rhapsody, Napster, and Yahoo. I liked Napster the best, and am currently using it.

Be warned, if you don't like rhapsody, it is HORRIBLE trying to get your account cancelled. They have the worst customer service. It sounds like they are using VOIP and of course none of them can speak clear english.

Overall, I think Yahoo and Napster are pretty close. I chose napster because it seems easier to use. If you find a song you like they will recommend other artists. Also, the yahoo music engine installs all kinds of stupid crap that I didn't care for (ie yahoo toolbar, among other things).

Are there any specific features that make you like Napster over the other two? Or is it more of a "feel" for you?

 

[KillerCharlie]

All of the services have a free trial! Use that to determine if you like their music selection. I tried all 3 and settled on rhapsody because they have better jazz hands down.

 

[LivinLaVivaPollo]

Most of these services require you to call them to cancel, so they can psychoanalyze you into accepting a free month.

I've never used Rhapsody or Yahoo, but I've used Napster To Go. It was really buggy for me with my Zen Vision: M. Some songs wouldn't transfer and just be stuck in the downloading queue forever. It also tries to sync songs between your computer and your MP3 player, which is usually good, except in the case when you delete a few albums on your MP3 player locally, and then plug it into your computer only to have them be downloaded again and retransfered to your MP3 player.

 

[Pastore]

Originally posted by: KillerCharlie
All of the services have a free trial! Use that to determine if you like their music selection. I tried all 3 and settled on rhapsody because they have better jazz hands down.

I have been using the 3 sites search features to see who has the best selection. That's why I'm leaning towards Rhapsody, as I think they have more obscure bands than the others.

 

[KillerCharlie]

Originally posted by: Pastore

Originally posted by: KillerCharlie
All of the services have a free trial! Use that to determine if you like their music selection. I tried all 3 and settled on rhapsody because they have better jazz hands down.

I have been using the 3 sites search features to see who has the best selection. That's why I'm leaning towards Rhapsody, as I think they have more obscure bands than the others.

That's another thing... some services have music that you can listen to and maybe download but not transfer to your mp3 player. Yahoo had a lot of that, but with Rhapsody I almost never see that. Make sure when you're searching for music not to use their website (Yahoo lists a lot of music they don't actually have), but use their downloadable program to search and then look to see if you can play/download/transfer the song.

 

[huberm]

Originally posted by: Pastore

Originally posted by: huberm
I have used Rhapsody, Napster, and Yahoo. I liked Napster the best, and am currently using it.

Be warned, if you don't like rhapsody, it is HORRIBLE trying to get your account cancelled. They have the worst customer service. It sounds like they are using VOIP and of course none of them can speak clear english.

Overall, I think Yahoo and Napster are pretty close. I chose napster because it seems easier to use. If you find a song you like they will recommend other artists. Also, the yahoo music engine installs all kinds of stupid crap that I didn't care for (ie yahoo toolbar, among other things).

Are there any specific features that make you like Napster over the other two? Or is it more of a "feel" for you?

the search features for napster seemed more helpful to me. Also, I like how there is an artist page for every single artist. If there is a certain artist you like, you can go to their page and view discography, songs, etc, and get recommendations for other bands that are similiar.

Other than that, I suppose its just what I got used to. It seems like the easiest one to use for me.

 

[Dracos]

Originally posted by: Pastore
Ok, I just bought the Sansa e260 and am leaning towards Rhapsody. Nobody uses these services??

I use Rhapsody alot since I have a Sansa e250. At first I wasn't going to sign up for the service but then I took a peak at their library which seems to have alot of songs that I haven't seen on other services including itunes.

 

[Pastore]

Originally posted by: Dracos

Originally posted by: Pastore
Ok, I just bought the Sansa e260 and am leaning towards Rhapsody. Nobody uses these services??

I use Rhapsody alot since I have a Sansa e250. At first I wasn't going to sign up for the service but then I took a peak at their library which seems to have alot of songs that I haven't seen on other services including itunes.

Is there anything you can say you don't like about that comination of the Sansa and Rhapsody? Are there any pitfalls that you have come across? I've read some places that it asks you to synchronize at random times, even if you just did it?

Also, does Rhapsody sync directly to the player or does it use WMP as a middleman? If it requires WMP10 or 11, won't I have issues installing it if my version of XP isn't legit?

 

[Dracos]

The only real issue I have with Rhapsody to go service is the fact that when you do a sync you have to sync your whole library or you can build a playlist that can be synced. This can become an issue if you have an extensive library and forget that you only want to sync your subscribed songs

The syncing in WMP is much easier at least for me, drag and drop and thats it. As far as I know Rhapsody does not use WMP as a middle man. In fact I believe I read somewhere that Rhapsody said not to use WMP to sync if you are also using Rhapsody.

Beyond those quirks I havent had any other issues with Rhapsody. Now the e250 is another case this is my second one because of a firmware that crashed when I updated the first one. Sansa did replace it free of charge, so that was cool. This one also got borked for some strage reason the db became corrupted, a quick format of the device did fix that issue though.