Entered CNET Catalog: 10/04/2003
SKU: MusicMatch 8.1
Manufacturer: MusicMatch
Manufacturer description
Quickly buy entire albums or purchase just a few select tracks. Hear a track on Musicmatch Radio you'd like to buy? No problem. Download songs as you listen. Then enjoy crystal-clear, CD-quality music anytime, anywhere. Add tracks to your Music Library, burn them to CDs, download them to your portable player, and you're ready to go! Listen to audio CDs, MP3s, Internet streams, WMAs, WAV files and more. View videos and visualizations in the resizable Media Window and view album, song and artist information while listening. Also create playlists with ease - just drag and drop music files from your Music Library or from any Windows Explorer window to hear your favorite music instantly. Get started quickly with instant access to popular and advanced Jukebox features in the new Music Center - burn, record, play, and manage your music collection with ease. An all-new simplified, streamlined look also makes the Jukebox easier to use than ever before. Musicmatch Jukebox is the only all-in-one jukebox that delivers free unlimited CD-quality recording/ripping using the industry leading Fraunhofer MP3 encoder. Convert your personal CDs into MP3, WAV or Windows Media files with an easy one-step recording process. Automatically tag your tracks with album information and cover art when recording from CDs. Create custom audio and MP3 CDs at 2x speed with Musicmatch Jukebox Basic. Burn music mix CDs containing all of your favorite songs, or archive your MP3s and data files on CD-R and DVD media to free up hard-drive space. Let the Music Library keep track of your entire digital music collection. Easy access no matter where your music is stored on your PC. Sort music by 17 different categories, including Artist, Album, Track, Genre, and Mood. Even sort and view your entire MP3 collection by album art covers and create playlists for any mood or situation with AutoDJ. Send music to your portable MP3 player in seconds with the all-new Portable Device Manager. Drag and drop songs and playlists from your computer straight to your MP3 player. Synchronize custom playlists or your entire Music Library with most popular portable devices. Delve deep into band bios, discographies, track listings, influences, and crucial reviews from AMG and RollingStone.com in the Music Guide. Get personalized recommendations based on your listening tastes and those of Musicmatch community members with similar tastes. Check the latest listener charts for the most popular music played by the Musicmatch community. Plus: Check out the Guide Classical Edition for composer biographies, works listings and CD listings with cover art. Choose from more than 200 popular and specialized Genre and Era stations, and tune in to exclusive seasonal stations and new release CD parties from your favorite artists. Volume Leveling keeps steady volume applied to all the tracks in your music collection by eliminating volume spikes and dips. You will find this very handy when burning custom mix CDs and listening to music on your portable MP3 player.Product summary
The good: Radical interface upgrade offers speedier performance and customization; On Demand subscription service nicely integrated into jukebox; remote access to On Demand; share playlists with non-Musicmatch friends; all-in-one player, ripper, encoder, burner, online radio receiver, music manager, MP3 player loader, and download service; secure songs transfer to MP3 players; supports Universal Plug and Play devices; even more customizable; Auto DJ incorporates On Demand tracks.
The bad: Audiocentric jukebox has no support for video or photos; annoying "upgrade to Plus version" offers; some may balk at playlist-centric design.
The bottom line: This music jukebox/subscription service/store combination does it all, but its playlist-centric interface can cause confusion.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 07/27/2004
Musicmatch Jukebox 10.0, the latest version of the venerable all-in-one jukebox software just got much better with several improvements to the interface, including deep customization, new features such as Auto DJ, and an overall performance boost. The new version supercedes version 9.0, which was released only five months ago and added subscription service Musicmatch On Demand. Version 10.0 provides tight and user-friendly integration of the growing On Demand world, the 99-cent-per-song Musicmatch Music Store, Musicmatch Radio (formerly Musicmatch MX), and Artist Radio (formerly Artist On Demand), all in a revamped interface that is faster and less buggy than previous versions'.
Those familiar with version 9.0 will immediately recognize the new interface, which is dark blue by default (seven other color-based skins can be downloaded). The music library can be viewed by album, album art, rating, On Demand tracks, or several other preset views, which are populated in a handy drop-down menu. You can also customize a view using more than 30 ID3 tag criteria; for example, you can create a view that shows the most recent 320kbps WMA tracks burned--the possibilities are endless. Another new addition is the Playlist Manager, which appears on the right-hand side of the interface. Here, you can drag and drop tracks from your library into any playlist--including On Demand tracks if you are a subscriber--and manage your existing playlists with ease. The new interface will also allow you to rename track information from directly within the library view; if you're using the Plus version, you can batch-change the ID3 tag info for multiple tracks with a couple of mouse clicks.
While the Auto DJ Classic feature is still available for those who like to create mixes on the granular level, the new Auto DJ feature is able to create playlists of any size based on any number of "seed" artists. In other words, you can drag and drop artists such as OutKast and Van Morrison into the Auto DJ window, set the number of songs (or a number based on file size, minutes, or hours), set the diversity ratio of like artists, set the source somewhere between the vast On Demand library or your local library, and finally designate the popularity of the music. In our tests using the abovementioned artists, Auto DJ created a playlist in seconds featuring a mix of library and On Demand tracks, including those by Muddy Waters, Jimi Hendrix, and the Roots. Although On Demand requires a monthly subscription fee, the Auto DJ feature is a powerful way to explore the thousands of tracks available without having to do much work. This feature is also an excellent way of configuring 256MB of fresh tunes for your player, although our tests showed playlists slightly exceeding the 256MB threshhold.
Back to the Musicmatch Jukebox basics: Musicmatch On Demand offers users unlimited access to a library of more than 800,000 songs and 40,000 albums for a monthly subscription cost of as low as $7.95 per month (based on an annual fee). The streaming service, along with version 10.0, of the software itself breaks new ground in the level of personalization and customization it gives to the user, as well as in features not available in like services such as Napster 2.0.
By introducing these elements, the PC-only Musicmatch has only added value to its all-in-one player, ripper, encoder, burner, and music manager. While its jukebox features still separate it from the crowd, the addition of the On Demand service should raise Musicmatch's overall charm. Still, even after a major interface makeover, some users may seek the overall simplicity of RealNetworks' RealPlayer 10.5. But neither of these apps can compete when it comes to audiocentric utilities and features.
As always, Musicmatch comes in two versions: the free, downloadable Basic package and the feature-packed $19.99 Plus version. The Music Store works with both versions, but the Basic program requires you to sit through upgrade ads. Only Plus users get Musicmatch's powerful SuperTagging, a helpful add-on that examines your audio files and fills in the appropriate ID3 tags based on certain characteristics, such as filename. Another reason to spring for Plus is burn speed. While Basic writes at 8X, Plus burns as fast as 48X. New to the jukebox are an improved main screen and set of right-click options, as well as better folder management.
We found navigating through Musicmatch On Demand an enjoyable experience, thanks in part to consistent and standard screens that all link back to recognizable sections. Unlike in versions prior to 9.0, Musicmatch 10.0 won't leave you stranded, as links to artists, albums, and songs--whether they live in the Music Store or in your own library--are logical and useful. You'll find the typical Related Artists links, but Musicmatch lists many more than the average interface. After playing with the service for a bit, you'll notice how personalized a service can get.
Subscribers will also be able to create and save playlists that include music from both the service and your personal library--in other words, WMA, MP3, and On Demand tracks. Plus, you'll get a daily personalized playlist based on the music you listen to. We were especially keen on the feature that allows you to remotely access your On Demand tracks and playlists from any PC (running Musicmatch 9.0 or higher, of course). In addition, you can e-mail a playlist to a friend, and they can listen to it up to three times without having to be a subscriber; they still need Musicmatch Jukebox 9.0 and higher, however.
The On Demand service is nicely integrated with the rest of the app.
Just like the iTunes Music Store, Musicmatch's Music Store runs through a tightly integrated standalone application. Browsing for music is free; once you find a song you want, you have to complete a one-time registration, which is relatively painless.
With more than 800,000 songs, Musicmatch's current catalog is similar in size to iTunes'. Unlike BuyMusic's erratic pricing, Musicmatch delivers on its 99-cent-per-tune guarantee, which is the same as Apple's service. Most albums cost $9.99--the same rate iTunes Music Store charges. The songs are secure WMA files encoded at 160Kbps, which sound approximately as good as Apple's 128Kbps AACs, although, to a certain extent, that's a matter of preference. Musicmatch has one leg up on Apple, in the form of its revamped built-in personalization technology, which recommends similar artists based on your music selections. Users may also purchase gift certificates ranging from $10 to $300.
In our tests, downloads flowed effortlessly onto our PC and, from there, a WMA-supporting MP3 player without problems. Likewise, streams from On Demand were instantaneous. In contrast, secure BuyMusic WMAs are still notoriously incompatible with portable devices. We appreciated that songs download in the background, for uninterrupted browsing. Also note that Musicmatch queues up all newly downloaded tunes in your current playlist by default, which can be annoying if you're listening to low-key ambient music but downloading tunes for Friday night's dance party. To change the default setting, select Options > Settings, and uncheck "Add to playlist window."
Once you've downloaded a song to your PC, you have a good deal of freedom on how you can use it. There are a few commonsense restrictions (also found in iTunes Music Store): you can play your tracks on up to five PCs, and you can burn the same playlist seven times--up from five in the previous version.
Introduced back in version 7.5, the Portable Device Manager quickly transfers your tunes onto most MP3 players. We transferred both older MP3 playlists and newly purchased WMA tracks to our Creative Nomad MuVo NX without a problem. If your portable device supports MP3Pro (most RCA players do), you can use Musicmatch to encode to MP3Pro for better sound quality per megabyte. Musicmatch can even normalize transferred tracks if you've checked the "Enable the volume leveling and sound enhancements during download" box in the Portable Players window. That way, the volume will remain constant through all the tracks on your MP3 player, though you can also normalize files during the ripping process. Musicmatch 10.0 supports Universal Plug and Play devices, so you don't have to camp out in front of your computer to enjoy your music.
Musicmatch offers the newly named Radio service as both a free and pay-per-month feature. The former includes more than 200 well-programmed radio stations, while the latter has two subscription plans: the $4.95 Radio Platinum and the $2.95 Radio Gold. Both work with either Plus or Basic, let you discover new bands based on your listening preferences, and create genre and era stations. Based on your artist preferences, you can form your own customized station, which you can then share with friends. Version 10.0 expanded the Explicit Lyrics Filter feature that was added in 9.0.
With its vast array of audiocentric features, its tagging prowess (especially in the Plus version), a full-on Music Store, an on-demand subscription service, and now a faster and more customizable interface, Musicmatch has pushed digital music forward yet another notch.
Editor's note: We have changed the rating in this review to reflect recent changes in our rating scale. Click here to find out more.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164out of 164 user reviews
another case of a corporation buying out a fantastic product, only to destroy it
Pros: does everything i've ever wanted a music player to do
Cons: yahoo bought it out
the only downfall was that yahoo bought the rights. it's a crime that it's no longer available.
out of 164 user reviews
It should be obvous to them by now!!!
Pros: there are no pro's as of yet
Cons: Just read the boatload of reviews posted here
out of 164 user reviews
idk wat to put here
Pros: and agian idk
Cons: wats this mean
out of 164 user reviews
No need to upgrade
Pros: No pros here
Cons: Not the old version
out of 164 user reviews
Good player, Yahoo sucks
Pros: MMJB was my choice
Cons: Freakin Yahoo would screw up a wet dream
Now I have to try to identify which of the "allows" have to be killed off my 3 firewalls.
The question is, why did MMJB have to knuckle under to those scum suckers at Yahoo. I am really pissed off over this.
But then again, maybe itunes will beef up their cd label maker.
out of 164 user reviews
Beware: Now owned by Yahoo
Pros: Album art browse is nice
Cons: New version is a complete downgrade. Yahoo has ruined this product
The player is missing several of the features of earlier version and buggy. The worst problem being reported (and one that has happened to me personally) is that the player will refuse to play particular albums and songs. It simply skips them and reports an error. Customer support is non-existent and this problem has persisted for at least several months.
Check out their discussion boards. The problem has become so bad that a class action is being threatened.
out of 164 user reviews
Not good software
Pros: Looks good but it isn't.
Cons: Toss your money out the window
out of 164 user reviews
awful and awful
Pros: ummm... I only lost $20
Cons: NO customer service
Also, just TRY to get some help. Let me know if that happens for you.
out of 164 user reviews
BEWARE - better platforms exist
Pros: It's an okay platform if you don't research others
Cons: Annoying Predatory Business Practices
out of 164 user reviews
Great product and great customer support.
Pros: I have used Musicmatch for many years and have had very few problems with the software. The problems that I have encountered are minor and Customer Support did a great job.
Cons: License prevents downloading to numerous PCs/CDs/mp3 players.
out of 164 user reviews
Many problems with Musicmatch 9 and 10
Pros: its free, u get what u pay for
Cons: deletes playlist randomly. no support offered whatsover. annoying upgrade requests constantly
out of 164 user reviews
Impossible purchases!
Pros: Same as old version
Cons: Cannot download
Something must be done to this new version. When it starts it says there is a problem with the license manager. When I try to correct with the provided instructions, there are some features in the new IE that does not allow the corrections.
out of 164 user reviews
Need new improved version of Musicmatch
Pros: Using for 5 years
Cons: Crashes often and does not perform many functions
out of 164 user reviews
Long Term On Demand User, Very Satisfied
Pros: Combined with DFX provides quality sound
Cons: Very limited classical selection
out of 164 user reviews
A must 4 music lovers!
Pros: Radio, Auto Dj, Watch Folders, Super Taggin...
Cons: Cd burner sucks ass
Anyway the only thing is that u should run the program alone and if u xperience crashes and freezes just disable the cpu-using sub aps like watchfolders and the mm server, and for the burning use Nero which is the best of course (u can export a playlist and then add it to nero with one click) but do use the jewel case cover art designer which is great! Overall a great program, which still needs some improvements, I'm waitin... out of 164 user reviews
Buggy software
Pros: Would be a great service
Cons: Constant problems
out of 164 user reviews
This is the Best of the Bunch
Pros: Fast, easy to use, with many features
Cons: Unable to use to manage very large music data base
Most of other reviewers here are the free loaders of the planet and complain & bitc$ because they have no life or money, pay up free loaders and enjoy.
Only issue is musicmatch problem in handling large music data bases. Any library over, say 5K (5000) songs and things slow way down. Trying 85k and thing are impossible
out of 164 user reviews
Terrible program -- don't buy it!
Pros: My money was quickly refunded via my e-mail complaint
Cons: frequently crashes, uninstall freezes up, etc.
out of 164 user reviews
Mixed bag but fills my needs
Pros: Music library managment. interface and tagging
Cons: Cannot be trusted, but there are workarounds
Musicimatch will never fix these issues as they have been around for agaes and if they had the know how to fix they probably would have already.
out of 164 user reviews
don't waste your time
Pros: I can't think of any
Cons: like a virus
out of 164 user reviews
Best player to me
Pros: Good audio quality
Cons: It's always been and still is a heavy soft for the PC
out of 164 user reviews
Awesome burning, super tagging and sorting
Pros: Supertagging, burning, sorting
Cons: labor intensive to initially organize
out of 164 user reviews
Very poor.
Pros: as MJ10 goes I cant say anything is good about it.
Cons: I see lawsuits in the future for Musicmatch yahoo!
I had my motherboard crash 8 months ago and I got a new computer 2 months later. I had a problem with remembering my account user name and their email retreival system failed to do its job and I needed to talk to someone as I had been fed up after the first month and I wanted to canel because I saw that they were still charging my check card. I e-mailed customer their service and I received a lot of non-personal automated garbage as they appreciated my business and would be with me shortly. Well its been several months and I am still waiting. I have sent many emails stating I want to cancel but without the user name it was impossible and I still get charged now.
I finally today got my user name however, yay! But I download the new mj10 and it won't update and freezes up like many other complaints I see before my post. Well, this is one of the worst I have ever seen how these big companies who only care about fooling their shareholders into beleiving they know what they are doing yet prove again and again how these large monopolies only hurt the consumer. If anyone is interested in a class action suit for neglectful and irresponsible business conduct and proceedures please contact me because I am game!
out of 164 user reviews
Yahoo killed a good program
Pros: Duh......what?
Cons: Everything just about
out of 164 user reviews
Major problems with 10
Pros: Rips much faster
Cons: Doesn't rip for long before locking everything up, very buggy
out of 164 user reviews
Music Match no longer a good product
Pros: Looks pretty!
Cons: How long have I got?
out of 164 user reviews
Unable to record my casettes
Pros: none for me
Cons: does not work with version 10 Plus
Way too complicated... If you need to record your old casettes look for alternatives, some of which are free on the net. I would love to get my money back but I can not find a way to contact them...
out of 164 user reviews
Once great now SUCKS!!!
Pros: Great tagging
Cons: Slow, bloated, slow... Did I mention slow.
out of 164 user reviews
Version 10.1 a Bust!!!
Pros: Lifetime upgrades
Cons: Buggy and crashes every time
I have been with Music Match from the beginning with life time upgrades and have always highly touted it. This version blows chunks! Tech support replied to my original email with instructions to uninstall and reinstall but it is no better than before. Bring back version 9 so I can at least listen to my music.
out of 164 user reviews
Musicmatch Version 10 is very unstable & won't uninstall
Pros: For years, it has been perfect for creating MP3's, & playing songs.
Cons: Instability, locking up is a disaster !! It won't let me uninstall, either!
out of 164 user reviews
Do not install musicmatch version 10!
Pros: Integration of features
Cons: Numerous technical issues
After installation of musicmatch version 10, my D and E drives (CD-rom and CD burner) both froze up and would not function properly. If this weren't bad enough, the jukebox itself would continuously give error messages indicating that the program had encountered an error and must close.
I have lifetime upgrades to musicmatch and now I regret it. The technical support is basically non-existent. I sent a detailed e-mail 3 times to technical support and got no reply.
In short, do NOT install this version on your computer. If you do, you might end up reformatting your hard drive like I did. This was not fun and took a lot of my time. Unfortunately, it was the only way to get rid of the problem since I encountered other bugs too which prevented me from uninstalling the program.
out of 164 user reviews
It won't even start
Pros: Previous versions were good
Cons: Version 10 doesn't start
out of 164 user reviews
very disappointed
Pros: Not sure, will go back to older version
Cons: doesn't work
out of 164 user reviews
For an audiophile, this is pretty much it.
Pros: Integrated library for local music and on demand music.
Cons: Nag screens
The only thing that keeps this from gaining a 10 is the nag screens. People are generally upset with musicmatch because the company moved away from pandering to illegal downloaders to a better buisness model... Musicmatch used to be the default app for everyone who downloaded music from bearshare or kazaa. If you looking for an alternative to the illegal download scene, then musicmatch is pretty much it.
out of 164 user reviews
Stay away from version 10
Pros: Good sound, clear, informative interface
Cons: Auto DJ no longer works; hangs frequently; bad support
out of 164 user reviews
Slow, unreliable, bloated garbage!
Pros: Radio, OnDemand music
Cons: Crashes, uses too much system resources, hard to kill all the processes it spawns
I held on for about a year beyond when I should have because Yahoo bought MusicMatch. I thought that meant help was on the way. Boy was I wrong. Yahoo has not done a thing with it as far as I can tell, except make it more bloated! I've been a conscientious contributor to their customer feedback mechanism for all the years I've been using MusicMatch and in the last several years, they haven't even bothered to fix the most egregious bugs!!
I finally had it, unsubscribed, uninstalled and am now happily using Napster, which is phenomenal. Clean, only uses system resources when you are using it, never crashes, similar selection and cost. Wish I'd made the switch a year ago.
out of 164 user reviews
An Absolute PAIN
Pros: Looks kinda cool, but that is about it.
Cons: Where to start. When you rip cds, cd track tags are not found on many occasions. Burner is riddled with flaws and countless errors.sucks up memory and freezes up my brand new laptop single handedly.
out of 164 user reviews
Consistently DISappointing!! FRUSTRAting!!
Pros: --for as long as it lasts, I have stored a lot of my music library
Cons: --doubt at every turn! failures on CD Lookup service; disappearing tracks from my library; unexplained shutdowns; faulty functioning of jewel case printing & no way to adjust problem; WORST OF All--
out of 164 user reviews
DO NOT UPGRADE FROM THE FREE VERSION!
Pros: free version is easy to use
Cons: no performance or customer service with paid version
Customer service is so slow as to be next to worthless.
out of 164 user reviews
Less music in new version
Pros: love the OnDemand
Cons: The new version offers less OnDemand music than previous versions
out of 164 user reviews
run away, don't walk
Pros: was the best available
Cons: can no longer tag
good by musicmatch, hello MediaMonkey
out of 164 user reviews
DO NOT UPGRADE TO 10.0
Pros: I could not find any
Cons: The worst tech support I have ever seen
Since 9.0 works fine and 10.0 will not that should tell them something. But it must be very hard to admit their is a problem with your software and you really don't know how to reslove it. If other people are having problems try downgrading it sure worked for me. I know it seem like an odd way to fix (their) problem but it sure worked for me. I will probably uninstall their software for good. It just really makes me mad that I have paid for Lifetime Upgrades (downgrades)
for a program that will not work
out of 164 user reviews
very disappointing
Pros: decent interface
Cons: buggy and very poor customer support
out of 164 user reviews
Bad software, Worse company
Pros: Not nearly enough to balance the Cons
Cons: Bad product, Offensive service
MUCH MUCH worse than the software is the support if there is ever a problem INCLUDING MUSIC YOU HAVE PAID FOR. I paid for and downloaded many albums. When the software began locking up, my music files that were purchased would no longer play. I contacted them by email (no phone support is available). Their average reply time is 48+ hrs. Over the course of a few weeks, they sent endless suggestions, requiring me to try dozens of fixes (I spent 10 hours of my time on their ridiculous lists of things to try). Nothing helped, and in the end they LITERALLY said that it was "not our responsibility". The music I payed for cannot be played, and they could not possibly care less or have been more rude along the way.
BTW I am a web developer, not a novice computer user. The software is deeply flawed and they will not admit it, nor will they take responsibility for any problems it causes you.
Don't give them a dime. You are buying unsupported software and music if you do.
This company is CRIMINAL -- Stay away
Having the same problem? Here is some contact info (yahoo owns musicmatch):
Billing: 1-888-814-2524
Yahoo Corporate:
1-408-349-3300
Corporate Email:
cc-advoc@yahoo-inc.com
This software is absolutely awful. It locks up and can only be closed with task manager, prevents shutting down your computer (type "shellconhiddenwindow" in a search engine for more details), accesses the internet constantly (even when software is "closed".
MUCH MUCH worse than the software is the support if there is ever a problem INCLUDING MUSIC YOU HAVE PAID FOR. I paid for and downloaded many albums. When the software began locking up, my music files that were purchased would no longer play. I contacted them by email (no phone support is available). Their average reply time is 48+ hrs. Over the course of a few weeks, they sent endless suggestions, requiring me to try dozens of fixes (I spent 10 hours of my time on their ridiculous lists of things to try). Nothing helped, and in the end they LITERALLY said that it was "not our responsibility". The music I payed for cannot be played, and they could not possibly care less or have been more rude along the way.
BTW I am a web developer, not a novice computer user. The software is deeply flawed and they will not admit it, nor will they take responsibility for any problems it causes you.
Don't give them a dime. You are buying unsupported software and music if you do.
This company is CRIMINAL -- Stay away
This software is absolutely awful. It locks up and can only be closed with task manager, prevents shutting down your computer (type "shellconhiddenwindow" in a search engine for more details), accesses the internet constantly (even when software is "closed".
MUCH MUCH worse than the software is the support if there is ever a problem INCLUDING MUSIC YOU HAVE PAID FOR. I paid for and downloaded many albums. When the software began locking up, my music files that were purchased would no longer play. I contacted them by email (no phone support is available). Their average reply time is 48+ hrs. Over the course of a few weeks, they sent endless suggestions, requiring me to try dozens of fixes (I spent 10 hours of my time on their ridiculous lists of things to try). Nothing helped, and in the end they LITERALLY said that it was "not our responsibility". The music I payed for cannot be played, and they could not possibly care less or have been more rude along the way.
BTW I am a web developer, not a novice computer user. The software is deeply flawed and they will not admit it, nor will they take responsibility for any problems it causes you.
Don't give them a dime. You are buying unsupported software and music if you do.
This company is CRIMINAL -- Stay away
out of 164 user reviews
v.10 Absymally slow, hogs system, won't uninstall
Pros: Great Library and ID3 editing
Cons: Very slow to load, hangs up frequentlt, won't uninstall
out of 164 user reviews
quality of program is in decline
Pros: has the potential to be the best out there
Cons: program is buggy, support sux
out of 164 user reviews
Shouldn't be available for download
Pros: Used it for tagging music
Cons: It's a freakin Virus
"Can't establish internet connection". Hmm... that's odd since I'm CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET. After getting that message, the program/virus wouldn't close properly requiring a reboot. So I thought I'd reinstall... but I can't remove this god for saken piece of crap program! Uninsall utility just hangs...
What a sad story. MusicMatch ruled in it's day... but with version 10.0, even the most die hard fans will look elsewhere. Nice work Yahoo, you killed it. Idiots.
If anyone knows how to get this POS off of my machine, let me know.
out of 164 user reviews
How Much Do You Like Looking at Hourglasses?
Pros: none that I can think of
Cons: Buggy beyond belief; will cause you untold hours of misery and then still not work
out of 164 user reviews
Too unstable to be useful
Pros: Does the job
Cons: Crashes often
out of 164 user reviews
Will not load except spontaneously.
Pros: Liked the past versatility.
Cons: Not much use if it won't load.
out of 164 user reviews
Great for tagging, however it's horribly unstable!
Pros: Great tagging software, select all mp3s at once and rename etc.
Cons: GUI is an utter piece of crap, highly unstable
There's no way anyone can overlook this huge problem!
..now that we have better and more capable players like Media Monkey (which have the same featuers as a purchased MM Plus for free).. maybe there IS hope in getting things done "right", the way things are supposed to be.
This is a re-review of MusicMatch Jukebox 10. I sat back and realized how low of a score I gave this product: a 2/10. To be honest, I was really upset that day because out of all the other times I use MM.. it was acting abnormal and completely unresponsive. And not to mention, I've lost a lot of time and effort while working with my expansive MP3 collection. A program shouldn't have to mess with your mind and compromise your hard work.. and that's why I gave it the 2 out of 10, close to abysmal.
However, today.. I'd like to speak on the good side of MusicMatch. When everything is running according to plan, this thing can perform a tremendous amount of work in a short moment. If you purchase the $19.95 yearly fee ofcourse, you'll unlock features like 'Super Tagging' which are absolutely essential if you're an avid fan of collecting MP3s and tagging files, so that they look great on an MP3 player. But, which MM, it's bittersweet. You have to realize that you're working with a delicate piece of software.. and you'll have to be prepared in the future, freeze-ups and crashes WILL happen with this program. I wouldn't say frequent, but it happens.
So, if you're contemplating whether or not to purchase a yearly fee.. I would have to agree . That's if you've searched everywhere else for a second or third choice first. The reason why I don't look elsewhere is because I'm comfortable with MusicMatch Jukebox 10 for now. And also, I already invested money into it. If you know of any other place that can 'Super Tag', as well as rename large quantities of files at one sitting.. then please let me know. But, if you're still thinking about buying a subscription to MM, just be cautious. Aside of all of that, you'll be getting a pretty helpful tool.
In closing, I'd like to give this product a re-review instead of giving it a 2/10... I'll give it a 5/10!
out of 164 user reviews
Save your time and money... Do NOT get this!
Pros: None in this version
Cons: Slow, hangs, bugs and poor technical support team
BIG mistake.
Musicmatch used to be one of the best but it's current version (10) is full of flaws.
First it took up too much space. It also took a while to load and once in a while the program either disappears after the screenshot or it would hang.
When I finally got the program to run properly, it would always attempt to check for component updates. But it also says it's all checked and completed and yet this very annoying box pops up EVERY single time. "Error: Could not download from UPSELL channel".
And it didn't stop there. It prompted me to update my service files and the program needs to close.
I downloaded whatever service files, plugins it kept telling me to install but the problems I had been facing remain.
I contacted Technical Support and after three emails, the problem was left unresolved and I was told they don't know why I'm experiencing all those issues (it must be the computer's fault, not their program) and why don't I fill up another of their technical support form again.
Argh. Version 10 is such a nightmare. I thought I was paying for upgrades but all I got was bugs, error messages and a technical support team that could care less.
out of 164 user reviews
Absolutely Terrible; Pure Waste Of Time And Money
Pros: Fairly nice program when it works correctly. (Seldom)
Cons: Weak security, software vulnerability and polite but poor tech. support
out of 164 user reviews
Can't Be Trusted, Don't Deal With Them
Pros: Was a Great Product, What Happened
Cons: No corporate integrity
I purchased a lifetime upgrade, plus version of MusicMatch 5.5. It was a great product. The lifetime upgrade was honored up to version 8.something. Trying to get this corrected via email was like talking to a rock. It appeared that a policy had been established to enhance revenue by reneging on the lifetime upgrade arrangement. I have the following conclusions for MusicMatch and CNET.
1. MusicMatch's business interactions lack integrity, and on that basis alone we shouldn't deal with them. The new owners had a chance to correct this but appear to be of the same mindset.
2. The new owners are degrading what was an excellent product. There are now two reasons why I'm glad that I'm no longer using MusicMatch.
3. I have considered Computer Shopper/CNET a valuable evaluation resource for many, many years. I've noted significant deviations between CNET reviewers and user ratings for other products, but the deviation on MusicMatch may be one of the worse. After reading the user reviews, a 4.4 rating seems generous (I have no doubt the calculation is correct). Who do I believe, CNET's experts or dozens of users? In this case, I had my own experience to consider and I have concluded that the CNET reviews either didn't do their job well, or they had a different agenda. CNET, I recommend that you establish a threshold deviation, at which point you perform a priority reevaluation of the product, and either correct your rating or justify it for your users.
out of 164 user reviews
Just Awful
Pros: Winamp is much better
Cons: Simply the worst music program out there
out of 164 user reviews
Super Tagging Rip Off!
Pros: Nothing I can think of in Version 10
Cons: Super Tagging expires after one year
out of 164 user reviews
Ridiculous Upgrade policy
Pros: Easy conversions,Supertagging
Cons: Loose a feature after a years use.Must upgrade
out of 164 user reviews
It is what it is
Pros: It does what you are willing to pay for
Cons: Earlier versions were a little more manageable
However, I take exception to the reviewer's "Cons" in the Overview. It list "has no support for video or photos" as a con. This may be true, but my television doesn't have a beer cooler, either. That would be a nice feature for my TV, but it's a TV not a fridge. MM is an audio device--not a media device. Let's review what it is--not what it isn't.
Also, other users complain about crashes and other technical problems. I have run MM on at least five different computers. The only problems I have seen were on old, slow, lacking RAM computers. Don't fault MM because you don't have a decent computer.
User need to understand that you have to pay for upgrades and subscriptions to get the best of MusicMatch. It's sort of like driving Chevys because you can't afford a BMW. Just don't complain when you test drive a BMW and don't experience all of its features.
out of 164 user reviews
Mucic Match
Pros: Easy to organize musik files.
Cons: Memory Hog!
out of 164 user reviews
Slowly riding into the sunset
Pros: Love it - when it works, and my machine isn't crashing
Cons: Machine crashes, playlists broken, and ZERO support
All of which is expected in today's plastic e-bay society. However, with ver 10, MusicMatch has finally hoist themselves on their own petard. Playlists are flat and simply broken. After interminable calls to support - they have no clue - and getting nowhere, they no longer bother to respond.
So, I'll go to the trouble do an uninstall/reinstall to go back to ver 8.4 - where at least the playlists worked. (Notice I have the good sense to save prior versions that actually work - more or less.) Then pray fiercely that the ONE of the next 2-3 upgrades actually work. Even a blind pig ....
So - why the "1" ??? WEll, there is no zero - and any outfit that simply refuses to even acknowledge support calls - well, they get the big fat goose-egg from me.
out of 164 user reviews
Failure-DOES NOT INSTALL-CANNOT USE IT
Pros: Works great when it installs
Cons: Utter failure-does not install.
out of 164 user reviews
Does everything I need
Pros: Easy interface, fast download.
Cons: none as of yet
out of 164 user reviews
Software became subscription retroactively -- DO NOT BUY!
Pros: This was a great program
Cons: Premium features stopped working when became subscription
Any purchasers of this product should be aware that they are buying a license for a year of use only!
out of 164 user reviews
Worst Tech Support I Have Ever Experienced!
Pros: Loved earlier versions that worked
Cons: Won't run; won't uninstall; tech support won't respond
Stay away!
out of 164 user reviews
Verry good
Pros: Excelent GUI Easy to use
Cons: Havent got any
out of 164 user reviews
Musicmatch was great, until I upgraded and paid for plus membership
Pros: Don't pay for it!
Cons: Doesn't work after paying for the 'plus' service after a few months, now crashes my system.it's a virus, not a tool!
out of 164 user reviews
C-Net how could you?
Pros: It has potential, if the myriad of problems can be worked out of it.
Cons: There are so many, my biggest issue was the complete lack of tech support. I had several problems with Music Match Plus and Music Store and all I could get was stock e-mails that in no way helped.
out of 164 user reviews
Version 10 upgrade? Downgrade is more like it
Pros: Additional tagging options
Cons: Removed support for multiple libraries, help files often confusing
out of 164 user reviews
sucks.sucks.sucks.do not get.
Pros: couldnt find alot. cool colors?
Cons: i cant even burn a freaking cd!!!!
im so ticked that i made this account JUST to complain about this stupid musicmatch 'up'grade. out of 164 user reviews
A good product gone bad
Pros: Great features if they would work
Cons: Many bugs and no support
With PLUS, the Super Tagging feature is great- until you realize (usually too late) that the tag creates a new folder with the new info (artist, album, etc.) in your target folder on your hard drive. If your WatchFolder happens to be the same (and it usually is) then when you check your drive for new music you have added EVERY FILE IS DUBLICATED IN YOUR LIBRARY!
As if that isn't bad enough, there is no way to fix the problem...the old OPTION-Clear Library from prior versions is gone as in the Create A New Library.
Is it just me or did these issues begin when Yahoo bought MM???
out of 164 user reviews
What happened to this great program??
Pros: It didn’t cause a catastrophic windows failure.
Cons: Constantly locks up, click one button and it’s all over.
out of 164 user reviews
Now that we all know MM sucks, recommendations?
Pros: I have none
Cons: it simply doesn't work
out of 164 user reviews
It's a bit faster in the latest release 10.00.4015C but still lacks in features compared to Winamp 5
Pros: I like the Supertagging feature a lot.
Cons: A bit overwhelming at first but it's not unsurmountable.
out of 164 user reviews
Just another CRASHING Program
Pros: Don't know, CRASHES EVERY TIME
Cons: No Technical/Refund/Customer Support of any kind
out of 164 user reviews
Upgrade is actually a DOWNGRADE
Pros: relative to version 9.0, NONE
Cons: fewer features available in new version
Also, after upgrading, several songs in my library, which functioned without problem before the upgrade, lost their ID3 tags, forcing me to re-enter all the info by hand -- a tedious task to say the least.
In version 9.0, I enjoyed recording straight from my system mixer, and much to my dismay, version 10.0 does not allow recording from this source, unless you pay MusicMatch more money. I paid once, I don't feel I should need to pay again.
The new skins are pathetic. Only one skin has the small player view that I prefer (i.e., a single, horizontal strip).
I have yet to hear back from their support team, but if my issues are not resolved, I will sadly be ending my association with this once great product.
out of 164 user reviews
Best MP3 player. Period
Pros: Well organized library.
Cons: Not enough skins
out of 164 user reviews
Gotta love it
Pros: Great selection; premium version seems to do it all
Cons: So many features; on demand lacks hot artists; still prone to crashes
Playback of on-demand and my ripped tracks is indistinguishable (I have a fast DSL connection). with the service I'm accessing my account (on demand library) from 2 other computers (5 total are allowed), which is a great bonus. Haven't tried synching my MP3 that much, but so far no problems.
Coordinating playlists and all of the selection features seems a bit complex, but not out of the ordinary for a package that does this much. And it doesn't give me a problem with Digital Rights Management like Windows Media Player did.
I love this package. For $20 for the software and just under $60 per year I've got great, unlimited music. (and no more hasseling with lots and lots of CDs).
For my money, its well worth it.
out of 164 user reviews
Horrible Company Tech Support Uselss
Pros: None------
Cons: Everything-------
Don't download it at all it will just give you a big headache. I'm out a lot of songs and a lot of money. Just a crappy company.
out of 164 user reviews
hehehehehehehe
Pros: hehehehehehehe
Cons: hehehehehehehe
out of 164 user reviews
Buggy - Zero use support - does not work
Pros: None I can find if it does not work!
Cons: Terrible support, buggy!
out of 164 user reviews
This is a broken company with broken software
Pros: neet logo look
Cons: doesn't work.
out of 164 user reviews
Horrendous!!. Even for the tech savy
Pros: None. None. NOne
Cons: hmm......everything
I purchased something and never got the download and can't find it either.
Horrendous tech support.
Did I say they lock in your credit card.
out of 164 user reviews
Not perfect, but pretty darn good...
Pros: Very good library of music, great jukebox features
Cons: sometimes slow to respond, especially when streaming music, lack of video.
Version 10 is much better then version 9, which was very buggy. The subscription price is also quite a bargain compared to some other services out there. As far as the music selection available in their store and on-demand services, Rhapsody probably has a broader selection, however, MM's selection is also very respectible. If you are looking for an all around jukebox/music store combination, MM would be a great choice.
out of 164 user reviews
Went To Sh*t
Pros: Best library, tag, and file management out there.
Cons: Poor quality player, NO customer service, new version unstable, memory hog, no way to export play lists, stay away from mm 10!
Version 10 downgrades the library management with several glitches; you cant scroll with the mouse wheel(why??), some very helpful design and automatic functions mysteriously removed, it has always had primitive player options (poor eq. 1 second pause between songs). The ability to export playists (.m3u) suddenly gone.
Customer support is absolutely unacceptable. Emailed and called, only to be put in circles or no response at all. They've focused solely on their radio and on-demand features, removed helpful features and functions when they shouldn't have, and released an extremely unstable program.
If you're a fan of MM, download 8.0 or 9.0. If not, stay the F away from this stinker and any version of the player.
out of 164 user reviews
MUSICMATCH STORE SUX!
Pros: library feature easy to use
Cons: runs slowly, bad tech support, buggy program
It wasn't only until *after* I told them I wanted my money back for the dowloaded tracks I never received, that I got a speedy reply apologizing for the delay, and telling me how to fix the problem. I admit that the solution they provided did work, but if it's going to take all that to get some service, then it's just not worth it.
out of 164 user reviews
Software is crap.
Pros: None that I can find
Cons: Memory Leaks, non-download of purchased songs.
I complained, and demanded my money back, not only for the song, but also for their crap software.
I've just switched to Itunes... should have done it sooner. I'm into it one day and I'm much happier.
TTFN.
out of 164 user reviews
v10.0 unreliable
Pros: Useful in prior versions
Cons: crashes and poor tech support
out of 164 user reviews
Very frustrating after upgrading
Pros: Tag-lookup features are great
Cons: Many difficulties in getting logged in!!!
out of 164 user reviews
Unstable application crashes repeatedly
Pros: Ability to supertag, albeit slowly
Cons: Crashes repeatedely, especially with player attached
Tech support is downright awful. This is a product in need of help. Sadly, I don't know of better apps out there -- WMP certainly isn't one.
out of 164 user reviews
best MP3 player out there
Pros: logical interface, excellent player and ripper
Cons: nothing too annoying
Highly recommended. I didn't give it a ten because nothing is perfect.
out of 164 user reviews
Best there is
Pros: Best feature set, Best ID3 tagging
Cons: I really don't know any
out of 164 user reviews
Help is incomplete and playlist transfer doesn't hold integrity
Pros: Super Tagging
Cons: Help and playlist management
out of 164 user reviews
Really poor, I'm disappointed
Pros: Not too bad an online download service
Cons: Won't rip, won't play songs downloaded from other services..
out of 164 user reviews
Great features, HORRIBLE support
Pros: Features are excellent
Cons: Frequent crashes, the worst support ever
The problem is, I also go through an uninstall/reinstall torture every second day just to be able to log in.
Tech support is completely incompetent. As a CTO who has written web-based applications, I am aware of the challenges. I have also provided a bunch of information to the Musicmatch people to help them debug their crashing application.
So far, no money back nor a working application.
out of 164 user reviews
Absolutely Awful
Pros: IF It Worked, It Might Be Good
Cons: It Very Rarely Works
Issue two is that the library interface shows random times for songs. It's absolutely the strangest problem I've ever seen.
Issue three is that I can't get it to add tracks to the library. If you read that and still think you should buy this product, you need to get your head examined because this P.O.S. is supposed to be a JUKEBOX!!! If you can't get it to add tracks....... you're screwed!
Which brings me to my final issue. Tech support for this product is the WORST. I wrote them over FORTY days ago, they told me that my issue was escalated, and I have never heard from them since. Repeated email inquiries go unanswered. It is a nightmare.
Do NOT buy Plus for this product like I did, and do NOT buy all future updates for an additional $40 like I did, because this product not only doesn't deliver, it just plain SUCKS.
out of 164 user reviews
Great application.
Pros: Easy to use. On-Demand feature rocks! Less "glitchy" than 9.0 version
Cons: Long load time (even on 3 GHz)
out of 164 user reviews
Love It , it has a great range of choices
Pros: Being able to play entire albums in On Demand
Cons: The new interface takes up the whole screen
out of 164 user reviews
Do not buy!! Crashes, won't uninstall.
Pros: Pretty!!!!
Cons: Does not work.
out of 164 user reviews
Failure to Honor Lifetime Upgrades
Pros: None any more - under the new owners
Cons: Abysmal customer support
out of 164 user reviews
New 10.0 has taken musicmatch downhill
Pros: easy to use library with multiple ways to view, tagging, volume leveling
Cons: ease of use in no longer available, program is unstable
out of 164 user reviews
Did You Test Their Cancellation Offer?
Pros: None, that I could see, as I was never able to log on!
Cons: After much effort on my part, they finally agreed to cancel -- but are still billing my account several days later!!
Crucial to the review of ANY online service (even if they don't offer a free "trial period" like MusicMatch does) is to test their response to a request to cancel the service both before and after the trial period has ended.
Many companies and utilities realize huge profits by making "nickel-and-dime" mistakes on customers' accounts, in the hope that many will see that it's much more expensive to try to seek justice than it is just to eat the "nickel and dime" that they stole from you.
This is why I am asking ALL who review such services to start including these two tests in their reviews: How easy was it to cancel before the trial period was up? How easy was it to cancel after the trial period was over?
And since a significant fraction of todays computer users are not computer savvy (read: "are stupid"), and because some HTML Forms just don't work on some systems (Ahem!), a third test that might be appropriate would be: How easy is it to contact the company WITHOUT using the ubiquitous HTML Form?
As for MusicMatch, the main reason I immediately went for the "Cancel" button when I couldn't log on was that logo with the half-nude blonde glaring at you: Yecch! And the other guys on there too, with the hokey blue suits: Double-Yecch! Get OFF my screen!
Thank You.
out of 164 user reviews
Best jukebox I've tried
Pros: Ease of use
Cons: Too many pop-ups for the Plus upgrade; automatically sorts music files in alphabetic order on portable device
out of 164 user reviews
Burner caused runtime error
Pros: cool interface
Cons: no effective support
out of 164 user reviews
It's more of a virus than a music program
Pros: polished interface
Cons: pops up all the time -- uninstall (or even upgrade) fails
out of 164 user reviews
more virus than useful app
Pros: good playlist management
Cons: frequent crashes, on line service unreliable, NO technical support
out of 164 user reviews
Excellent - for a price
Pros: On Demand Music, Auto DJ mixing personal library and MM library, MM Radio, simple but flexible ripper
Cons: Occassional bugs, big program, few plugins
The Music On Demand rocks. Alas, it costs money. Still, I really like listening to the songs I want to hear, and the selection is damn good. Choose songs from their library (or your own) and you're good to go. You can even save their albums to your own library. It makes it really easy to "own" an entire band's collection. You may miss some uber small label companies, but I suggest to go by those CDs directly.
Auto DJ is fun. It's a neat way to mix music from your library and their library. it's MUCH better than the older version which was pretty lame.
The program does have some bugs. I can't scroll unless I move the scroll bar with my mouse (very annoying). nothing major with my system, however. it takes about the same amount of time to load itunes, winamp, or realplayer.
There are lots of free programs out there that do the job. I'd probably use them if I wasn't addicted to On Demand.
out of 164 user reviews
Most for the money.
Pros: Nothing beats Music on Demand for instantaneous gratification and its ability to tag automatically is the best in the market.
Cons: Has about the same selection as iTunes. Could always do with more.
out of 164 user reviews
Much Ado About Nothing!
Pros: Easy to tag, rename and manage library. Easy ripping of CD and other sources.
Cons: The product burner software as well as the software as a whole was crashing more times then it was working. The initial install itself, caused my CD-Rw drive to malfunction. Lack of concrete support from the website was also an irritation. I bought Mus
out of 164 user reviews
More frustrating than it's worth
Pros: Super Tagging, "Artist Match" CD-quality radio streaming.
Cons: Instable, slooooooow, memory hog. I like getting recommendations of artists and tracks that match my tastes, but the software has some major performance problems. Try to do anything except just listen to music, and MusicMatch times out, freezes, or cras
out of 164 user reviews
V8.1 and V 8.2 way too slow, went back to v7.2
Pros:
Cons: The speed of this program is intolerable. I wait 8 or more seconds for a file will open for editing. Tried 8.1 and 8.2, went back to my 7.2. Each time I completely removed the program and re-installed. They only seem to care about pushing their Music Dow
out of 164 user reviews
Nice Features, Terrible Performance
Pros: Awesome Supertagging
Cons: The Biggest Memory Hog I have ever seen. Technical Support tells me to uninstall, then reinstall this software. Why? Every other multimedia program works. No excuse Musicmatch. Come out with a substantial "buggy" media player.
out of 164 user reviews
Didn't Transfer All Music to Creative Zen, Browser Problems
Pros: With this version, everything looks nice and snazzy, and the only thing I really like about it is the support of a nice range of portable devices.
Cons: Seven of nine of the files I paid for and downloaded will not transfer to my Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen player. Also, I tried browsing the music genres as I always have but get nothing except for a blank page. What gives?
out of 164 user reviews
Sluggish, Unstable, Crash Prone
Pros: 160 WMA's beats Napster's 128. Supper Tagging is cool, but s-l-o-w!
Cons: Sluggish - Sluggish - Sluggish! Did I mention sluggish??? Even after closing all other running programs, MM sucked up virtually every bit of my RAM. I lost count of the times MM experienced errors and crashed.
out of 164 user reviews
Works good at first but...
Pros: Lots of good features not found in other products. Easy download of music
Cons: -LOTS of bugs, many major -major system hog -get use to crashes of the player -Tech support REALLY sucks
out of 164 user reviews
Full Featured and Easy - bad support
Pros: The best categorization for large music collections. It makes it easy to sort. Love the Auto-DJ feature. By using their extra tags you can sort music by the mood you are in and whether you want party music or smooth music. Downloading music is easy an
Cons: Product Support sucks! They take a standard two days just to respond. If you want to write back, that will be another two days if they even reply. Interface could be more cohesive. While it is better than all the rest out there, especially with its ab
out of 164 user reviews
Terrible, Terrible, Terrible!!
Pros: Great look & interface. Good selection of radio channels.
Cons: Very very unstable and slow. Very hard to uninstall.
out of 164 user reviews
I'm new to this but I like it
Pros: Fairly easy to use, somewhat intuitive setup. Works quickly and I like the tagging features
Cons: Wouldn't pull my language files to the MP3 player. Kept telling me there wasn't enough space. I move the files manually through drag and drop and they fit nicely.
out of 164 user reviews
No problems with MMJB
Pros: I have no beef with this program of all the burners I've used this one the THE MOST user friendly, available. Musicmatch is an excellent program I run 240MB of ram and have absolutely NO problems whatso ever. Some of you may need to look at your hardware.
Cons:
out of 164 user reviews
A faded star...
Pros: Lots of features, most of them actually useful! Definitely geared towards music lovers - the built-in music guide is a great feature.
Cons: MusicMatch was my player of choice for a long time, but after version 7.5, things started going downhill fast. I don't know whether they actually test their software, but MusicMatch seems to have serious problems on every computer I've tried it on. The p
out of 164 user reviews
Tries to be too many things in one
Pros: MusicMatch MX is excellent. Wide variety of music genre's to choose from and you can create your own stations.
Cons: The new versions (7.x & 8.x) added Downloads and in the process removed a lot of the features of MusicMatch MX, which I paid a yearly subsription to. The ability to use a shopping cart and wish list to buys CDs are gone and instead they SCREAM "downl
out of 164 user reviews
winamp is free...
Pros: easy to use
Cons: why not get winamp for free? with a couple plug-ins, you can have all the same features for free
out of 164 user reviews
Very well designed do everythng media player
Pros: well designed, easy to use, very well executed file library and tagging system
Cons:
out of 164 user reviews
Nicely Integrated System
Pros: Musicmatch has an excellent feature set and easy integration with the Dell DJ. The sort, play, rip and download functions are all intuitive and well laid out. One comment about bugs/speed: neither has been a problem. The software has never crashed and th
Cons: Need more music on the purchase service - especially of alternative and new rock!
out of 164 user reviews
Good program but could be better
Pros: This program does every thing that it says it will do. I don't know why some people have been having such big problems with it burning songs and such, I have not had any problems in that matter. It has run great on my computer. I run a P4 512DDR and every
Cons: With that said the program does have some flaws. The option to purchase music is ran on some type of HTML generated pages and they do fail once in a wile telling you there has been a problem with the CGI script. Some times the program will crash on start
out of 164 user reviews
Best overall and allegedly to get better
Pros: Stable, quick and generally easy to get around
Cons: Some compatability problems, fussy ad-busting proxy behaviour
out of 164 user reviews
Don't Buy Retail Product!!
Pros: Super-taggging
Cons: Customer Service at Musicmatch is a thing of the past; they don't care about the retail buyer of their product. I bought a "New V8" product at Best Buy in December. Turns out Version 8.1 was released in late September and version 8.2 in December. Well, re
out of 164 user reviews
8.2 will not recognize additional flash card
Pros: I like to be able to sample clips before I spend .99cents. Library needs to be expanded to include more music from the fifties which I like. Sounds on my Rio Cali are excellent.
Cons: No way to compare what you have transferred to your portable player to the tracks in your Muris Library. Tracks should be highlighted in the library that you have transferred to your player so that you better manage tracks and add and delete.
out of 164 user reviews
MMJB fan for life...
Pros: Super tagging, fast ripping, NEVER had a problem burning MP3 or audio CDs, easy to optimize for my use by spending a few minutes in the preferences interface. I haven't used the online store but it wasn't a selling point for me anyway.
Cons: I've bought two "Plus" versions (once with 7.5 and once with 8.1) and you have to be careful to NOT accept the online update when it offers it. I disabled my "Check for updates" function. Support for older MP3 players isn't there, so I just go 3rd-party f
out of 164 user reviews
8.1 is alright...BUT 8.2 BLOWS 8.1 OUT OF THE WATER!!!
Pros: Way better looking and easier to use. Musicmatch tech support kick bootie. had a problem with Musicmatch jukebox emailed their tech support, first reply problem fixed. Instruction were easy to follow and taht coming from an aol user!
Cons: Hmmmm....keeps me up late at night organizing my music.
out of 164 user reviews
Go download Winamp 5.0
Pros: gets the job done
Cons: Buggy slow and not all that. Winamp 5 looks just as good, isn't as slow, much thiner and fast on computer resources, and does all the same stuff and more. Not a musicmatch fan, always freezes on my comp. and takes up a huge amount of space.
out of 164 user reviews
Is this a beta-test?
Pros: I have been using MM for over three years, and I think that this crew is incredibly innovative in terms of product design. They make it incredibly easy to rip and burn CDs.
Cons: Up through v8.0, I was an MM evangelist - couldn't say enough good things about the software. v8.1, however, is a brilliant product that was released about 12 months before it should have been. The downloads corrupt easily, and I have crashed my machine
out of 164 user reviews
* Strips you naked *
Pros: MM was ok up until version 7.2. After that the company apparently became utterly greedy and contempts users.
Cons: [1] "Calls home" via the internet once in every five minutes, also without reason. Does this even when you tell it not to (misleading option!). [2] Tries to fool firewall! Changes file signatures to try to get around my ZoneAlarm firewall. Is this legally
out of 164 user reviews
Still the best I can find for tag editing
Pros: After searching many times for free, less memory intensive programs for editing the id3 tags on my music, Musicmatch is still the easiest and most efficient. It's also not too shabby at transferring data to portables either.
Cons: I will definately agree with critics that this is not a good music player... But that's ok, that's what winamp is for... The memory problems in the history of this program are notorious and will always prevent it from being a good program for music listen
out of 164 user reviews
Nice but beware of downloads
Pros: Great features. Does a good job of finding tacks/artists similar to your "favorites." Downloads are easy to process and fast.
Cons: The secure WMA files don't play on alot of MP3 players out there (including mine). I guess that you have to burn the files as MP3 and then rip them to your device. Very kludgie.
out of 164 user reviews
This old dinosaur likes it
Pros: Works on my Win ME machine, doesn't require a subscription to use, listen to the streaming audio and if you like it you can buy it. It's easy to use. It has re awakened my interest in music which has been dormant for around 10 - 15 years.
Cons: Sometimes crashes, can be a bit sluggish at times, could use more music in the categories I like.
out of 164 user reviews
Great product - easy to use
Pros: Love the music library and genre radio. Not sure what everyone is complaining about unless they are running some ancient os like Windows 98!
Cons: A bit slow, even on new P4 computer. No talk radio.
out of 164 user reviews
MusicMatch Puts Roxio to shame
Pros: This is without question the best music app I've ever used. It can do everything I wanted in a program. It's extremely stable, have never had a buffer under/overrun unlike Roxio's regular occurence. Tag editing is easy and tags stick exactly as you wanted
Cons: No cons. Wish it could write data CD's.
out of 164 user reviews
Get itunes instead
Pros: Great radio/downloads
Cons: I've spent over 100+ dollars in downloaded music. upgraded to Windows xp intsalled Rio Chiba. Now can't burn, play, download to Chiba purchased music. Still works with stored MP3s, but so what, looks like I'm out of money
out of 164 user reviews
Buggy and slow, but serves its purpose
Pros: 1) Good choice for those of us who have older OSs and don't want to give Microsoft more $$ to upgrade to Windows XP/2000 (are they any better?)just to get iTunes or Napster 2.0. 2) Can resume interrupted downloads. 3) Sound quality is decent. 4) Got charg
Cons: 1) Slow to load at startup, with script errors. 2) Memory/resource hog!! 3) No support for MP3 - will it ever happen? 4) Cover art included with tracks increases file size and download time, especially for those who don't want to spend the extra $$ for br
out of 164 user reviews
If you can't burn CDs, what's the use?
Pros: Has potential. Decent music selection. Rips great MP3s.
Cons: The CD burning application is the worst. I have 2 different drives and it can't make an audio CD in either. As mentioned before, live service help does not exist.
out of 164 user reviews
Hours of frustration, abominable support for faulty software.
Pros: They organize the music well, for searching and finding new music.
Cons: I couldn't burn a CD using Musicmatch so I sent 3 separate emails to tech support. There is no way to get live person-to-person help. I never got responses to any of my 3 emails, which were sent over the course of 2 weeks. A complete waste of money, hou
out of 164 user reviews
More like MusicMachete!
Pros: Uh, um, well....
Cons: It doesn't work! Tried to get one song. The song wouldn't download--but they had no problem charging my account for the attempt. I got them to credit my account, and then tried the next day to download the same song. Not only did it again not download, TH
out of 164 user reviews
for PCs and iPod, this beats iTunes all the way
Pros: SERVICE! Got a question, problem? no problem, email them and you'll get not just an answer but THE answer the next day. Tried iTunes for Windows: much more confusing, and when it bombed 3x, I emailed them. That was a month ago and I'm still waiting. In th
Cons:
out of 164 user reviews
Updated review: Consumers should look at alternatives
Pros: Nice all in one program. Combines a ripper, burner, player, and music store all in one program plus with some other nice features.
Cons: The program is a resource hog and is slow to load. There are still bugs in the program despite the fact that there has now been several updates for it as I check for updates once a week. Most of the bugs have to do with the music store part of the program
out of 164 user reviews
Needs work lots of work
Pros: nice interface
Cons: crashes my system every other time. Tech support? what tech support? terrible product, very disappointed because I LOVED earlier version.
out of 164 user reviews
Best all-in-one solution
Pros: Has everything you need to create and, more importantly, manage large music collections. The Plus features such as Super-tagging are great for pulling lyrics, album art, etc. when ripping. The integrated music store is basically the same deal as Napster
Cons: I've read numerous reports of system crashes and slow load times with others, and I've had similar problems with earlier versions, so I'm inclined to believe it (although I'm definitely having no problems now, and I run MM 8.1 on both my laptop at home an
out of 164 user reviews
not good for line in recording
Pros: Does it all
Cons: Line in rcording is suck. Rip fast but slow to add the song to library.
out of 164 user reviews
Talk about broken upgrades...
Pros: Great product, BUT...
Cons: Holy crap, this upgrade is BROKEN. Saving edits to a song's tag now takes upwards of 10 minutes, with the CPU maxed out the whole time. What in the name of fudd is it DOING!?! Warning for anyone considering this product -- it does NOT scale up to thous
out of 164 user reviews
Needs to be able to do everything
Pros: A great place to organize your music files. I like the fact you can do everything with one player. I use it for everything. I give it a thumbs up for the player and what it does and what it's capable of doing.
Cons: If I buy a song it should be mine to do what I want with it. I burned it on to cd then I had to rip it to get the files to mp3. I want to put the songs on my mini disc player and I keep getting an error saying that the files are illegal. I bought the damn
out of 164 user reviews
The best I have seen yet!
Pros: All in one package. Musicmatch has everything you need when it comes to music. Downloading, radio, music list, and much much more.
Cons: It is slow to connect when opening the program, and I still am not fond of all the music coming out in WMA format. (You cannot convert the music to MP3 and burn multiple songs onto one CD for hours of music enjoyment). But I guess I will have to deal wit
out of 164 user reviews
You will get ripped off. Read below.
Pros: Shame on you Rebecca, writing positibely about MM, while over 70% of the 300-or-so reviewers of version 8.0 were utterly negative! Great 'reviewing' when you just decide to wipe your ass with all those REAL USER comments.
Cons: The facts: decent product but overpriced and - here comes the 'problem': Once you pay for the product, you expect to be able to keep on using the paid-for features but that's not the case: MM DISABLES THE FEATURES ONCE THEY BRING OUT A NEW VERSION - there
out of 164 user reviews
Don't have an iPod and don't want one
Pros: There are nice things to be said about the iPod and iTunes. But I don't want to be boxed in by Apple. Windows is about choice. Musicmatch is a great alternative. Overall, it has more feature, especially in regards to it's library. Music purchases dow
Cons: A little slow at start up. Even on p4 2.8GHz SSE2. There are a few kinks in the interface, but this puppy is obviously a labor a love by the company and the software is updated regularly and unobtrusively. I cannot get music to play in anything but s
out of 164 user reviews
Nice Try--Can't believe I spent the money!
Pros: The product has a lot of skins available
Cons: To the heart of the matter--it is a memory hog....the burner constantly sticks on my computers--I've used the program on two..and I purchased the full program, the music skips, and the media library is annoying to use, you have to upload each album indivi
out of 164 user reviews
Requires a subscription, iTunes doesn't
Pros:
Cons: Requires a subscription. Who needs another recuring monthly charge? You already pay for the download. It's like when you buy a ticket to a concert and they add a building usage fee. Give me a break.
out of 164 user reviews
Nice program, but not without bugs
Pros: Nice all in one media player. It's nice to have a program that combines a ripper, burner, media library and online music store all in place. Don't have to use seperate programs to do any of the above mentioned tasks.
Cons: The music site crashes on my system every time I attempt to download a song and/or try to login into the music site. Repeated requests from tech support has not helped. I'm considering at looking at other media players like Real One, or Winamp. Program ha
out of 164 user reviews
ITUNES IS BETTER!!!
Pros: When it comes to features, Musicmatch def. has it all. Interface is laid out quite nicely & easy to listen to & download songs.
Cons: MEMORY HOGG!!!!! Oh my god, is there some way to improve the slugishness of this program. I have this running on a p4 512mb ram machine however this program runs too slow. I just download Itunes for Windows & no, it does not have the overall featur
out of 164 user reviews
Two Fonzie thumbs up.
Pros: 99 cents downloads, ripping, burning, tagging and I can transfer the files I downloaded to mah portable. Kick arse all in one jukebox. Lets not forget the radio.
Cons:
out of 164 user reviews
MusicMatch Basic is somewhat annoying.
Pros: MusicMatch is a good program for the fact that it has an easy to use interface and setup takes the mind off of figuring what to do. It's encoder and everything else is solid and can perform exceptionally well.
Cons: The music-only player has often annoying ads for its plus version. On top of that, some of its features that are normally free on other media players, are locked and are only available through MusicMatch Plus (i.e. some of it's tagging features and the eq
out of 164 user reviews
It is the Windows iPod interface, yet no MP3 format!!!
Pros: The interface is fine and the speed is nice.
Cons: I don't like having to burn a song and then rip it to get it on my iPod!
out of 164 user reviews
Won't burn purchased music!
Pros: Quite iTunes like. Acceptible workflow.
Cons: I have the purchased version. Uses http for interface and failed when running through my ad busting proxy, which it did by default. Took some time to figure out that was the problem, since the behavior is it just doesn't connect. But the BIG problem is
out of 164 user reviews
Makes you bye music to buymusic.com
Pros: $.99 fixed price. Less restrictive DRM. 160 kbps files. Easy downloads. If a downloads fails, the program automatically retries. Better layout than buymusic.com
Cons: DRM is the cancer of the computer world. Most people don't share their music, and the ones you want to stop can easily bypass DRM. DRM does nothing but treat everyone like criminals, even though they aren't. Also, the interface can be slow at times. Y
out of 164 user reviews
I Like it!!!!
Pros: Easy to use... 160 WMA's sound great
Cons: Player support could be better. No Jukebox or Zen support yet.
out of 164 user reviews
Generally a very good product
Pros: Lots of features for the digital music fan. I have only used the Basic product to rip our CD collection to our home PC. Downloaded 1 song from new download service with no problems. I think this is a very good product is the best overall for Windows us
Cons: No tech support for Basic product. As far as I can tell it only supports WMA downloads. The one song I purchased was WMA at 320kbps - huge!!! Haven't been able to figure out how to download at less kbps. I am planning on buying an iPod which, as far a
out of 164 user reviews
Excellent features and design, but has some bugs
Pros: Has every feature you are looking for. Rip, burn, buy, play, convert and of course supertagging which saves hours and hours of fixing tags - Although it places EVERYTHING in the genre pop/rock... what happened to alternative and metal? Nice interface
Cons: Buggy and slow... takes a lot of system memory to run. It is a little unstable too... but I hear a fix is in the works... so I'll put up with it for now... afterall it is the best player out there yet!
