Rhapsody Review
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- Access to over 6 million songs |
Overview - Rhapsody offers unlimited access to listen to more than 300,000 albums, 85,000 artists and over million songs. With a subscription you gain streaming on demand access to the entire catalog. Their "To Go" service allows you to transfer the songs to some mp3 players. However Rhapsody is expensive compared to the competition and doesn't offer iPod support. Take a look at our eMusic and Napster reviews for a better value.
History - RealNetworks Rhapsody online music service opened its doors in December 2001. Rhapsody was the first service to offer on demand access to its entire catalog of music for a monthly fee. By 2002 they offered titles from all five major labels. Now they offer an extensive selection of over 6 millions tracks.
Song titles - Rhapsody has one of the largest song catalogues with over 6 million songs. Subscribers have unlimited streaming access to the entire online music collection. Search and listen to music based on song title, artist, album, composer, lyrics, or genre.
Music - Rhapsody offers a collection of over 6 million songs formatted as Windows Media Audio (WMA) or RealAudio (RA) files. Those who want to transfer songs to an MP3 player will want to choose WMA format. Rhapsody music consists of 192 kbps bit rate while the streaming rate is 128 kbps.
Search - Rhapsody allows you to search for music by keyword, song title, artist, album, track, composer, or video.
Pricing Plans - Price is a sore spot for Rhapsody. Now that Best Buy owns Napster you can get unlimited streaming music for only $5 a month. The same from Rhapsody costs $12.99 a month. Rhapsody offers two unlimited access plans. It all comes down to whether you want to listen to music on your PC or on your MP3 player. Rhapsody To Go allows unlimited access to stream any of the 6 million songs along with the ability to transfer music to some MP3 players and other portable devices. This service costs $14.99 a month. Rhapsody Unlimited gives you access to the same online music collection without the ability to transfer files to your mp3 player for $12.99 a month. Again if you just want streaming access check out Napster. They offer the same service for $5 a month.
Supported devices - Rhapsody To Go supports over 100 MP3 players and other portable devices. See the full list of compatible devices at Rhapsody.com > How It Works > Devices. Due to restrictions Rhapsody does not support either iPod or Zune devices. Take a look at eMusic for cheap iPod / Zune compatible songs.
Digital Rights Management - Rhapsody uses Windows Media Audio (WMA) and Helix for DRM protection. This allows you to access and listen to unlimited tracks as long as you subscribe to the service.
Supported Operating Systems - Rhapsody is compatible with Windows Vista and XP, MAC OS X, and several Linux distributions.
Customer Service - Rhapsody offers toll free phone support along with an online self-help and customer support area. They also offer a knowledge base and forum to share questions and comments with other customers.
Bottom line - Rhapsody offers unlimited access to over 6 million songs from all five major labels and support for over 100 portable devices. At $14.99 a month Rhapsody is pricing itself out of the market. Take a look at Napster or eMusic for lower cost alternatives.