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Music subscription service choices
When choosing between on-the-go music service subscriptions, price is an important consideration, but it's not the only one.
At the time of this writing, just two major music subscription services offer content that you can take "to go" on your Janus-enabled MP3 player or other portable device: Napster To Go and Rhapsody To Go (which absorbed previous contenders, Yahoo Music Unlimited and MTV Urge). If you sign up for either of these services, you automatically receive access to all of the features of any lower-costing subscription, such as basic jukebox functions, the capability to buy or burn tracks, and so on. One thing to keep in mind about each of these on-the-go offerings is that although you always have the option of streaming content directly from their servers, if you choose to transfer music to an MP3 player (essentially, the point of this type of subscription), it must be downloaded onto your hard drive first. Translation: If you like a large variety of music and plan on taking it all to go at some time or another, you're going to need plenty of room on your hard drive. A word of advice: By default, each of these programs saves songs in the My Music folder, so if you don't want subscription tracks mixed in with your general library, create a specific folder for this purpose. (This setting can be found in the Tools or Preferences menu.) More of the basics as they apply to each service are explained below.
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Price: $14.95 per month; sign up for one year, and get a free 1GB Creative Zen V.
- Napster To Go has agreements with all the major record labels as well as "thousands of independent labels and distributors" and it offers a catalog of more than 5 million songs.
- With one subscription, you can use three different portable devices and authorize up to three computers.
- You can access all saved catalog content from every computer (as a stream).
- Deauthorizing a computer is easy, although you can deactivate only one PC every 30 days.
- Subscribers get up to a 20 percent discount when purchasing multiple songs with Napster Track Packs.
- An additional service called Napster Mobile allows users of certain cell phones computerless access to the music catalog.
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Price: $14.99 per month
- Rhapsody To Go boasts a catalog of more than 4 million songs, including titles from all the major record labels as well as a rich selection of independent music; more than 10,000 indie labels and thousands of indie artists are represented.
- Each subscription can be used with up to three different devices and three computers. If you've reached the limit, a mere click of a button on the Deauthorize designation in the Tools drop-down menu will deauthorize your current computer, allowing you to select a new computer.
- All of your saved content from the Rhapsody catalog is accessible on each authorized computer. The service also has a Web-based client, with which you can listen to music on any computer connected to the Internet.
- Subscribers can purchase track at a discounted cost of $0.89.
- Several digital audio receivers are compatible with Rhapsody, allowing you to stream content throughout your house.
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The major labels
Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Universal Music Group
EMI Group
Warner Music Group
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