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15 out of 17 people found this review helpful
3.5 stars
"Streaming Option is Crack to the Music Fiend, but To-Go Option is Hurting"
Pros: Sexy Interface, Seamless Streaming
Cons: Incomplete Streaming Catalog, To Go Selection Full of Holes
Summary: This new version of Rhapsody is, as some have suggested, the purest and most addictive of drugs for the audio-addicted. I have been using the streaming option (before and after the recent upgrade) for the past six months and I have it running 14 hours of the day, constantly at home and constantly at work. I have yet to reach the end of the ever expanding catalog and I can hook this up to my home entertainment system to blast all around the house. I go through a rough physical withdrawal if I'm away from the music for more than a day. I've sold all but a small portion of my formerly large cd collection and I don't know what I'd do without this incredible application.
The only problem here is, I don't know what I'd do without this incredible application. As detailed by many other worried reviewers, the danger is that Rhapsody could kill the service at any time and we would be out of luck with zero music in hand. Fortunately, I don't believe this will happen any time in the near future. We can all see that the digital music revolution is coming and there's not much anyone can do about it except get on board and embrace it. I understand the apprehension of other reviewers who insist that by not owning their tunes, they have no ultimate control over them. That said, the past six months "renting" my music has been amazing. Once you give it a try, like me, you'll feel stifled if you ever have to resort back to a cd collection.
Rhapsody does have it's limits, though. As outlined by Eliot Van Buskirk on this site and on mp3.com, none of the subscription services, Rhapsody included, carry the entire catalog of digital music. This means the digital music user that's attempting to keep it legal, such as myself, is left out in the cold on much of the music out there. And Rhapsody's To-Go option is even worse. Initially, I was thrilled when I heard about the new service. I went out and purchased my first mp3 player (Creative Zen Micro) and signed up for the To-Go option. After upgrading the firmware on the portable device, Rhapsody did a fair job of transferring files and the music sounded just fine. That is, the music I was able to transfer. The ridiculous part of the service, which is not advertised, is the number and selection of files one can, or rather cannot, transfer to an mp3 player. Although one can stream a good number of tunes, only about 1/3 or less of each album could actually be transferred to my mp3 player. And guess which songs they allow this for. You got it, only the songs that Rhapsody doesn't believe anyone would want to pay extra to download. This renders the To-Go option absolutely useless. So I cancelled my To-Go subscription within a week of starting it. The good thing is that at least the program was well designed so that my account was not unfairly affected. The monthly subscription was prorated and I only paid for the time I used the service.
Recap: The Rhapsody streaming service is undeniably amazing and addictive. I could not live without it and I don't plan on trying. The Rhapsody To-Go option is completely worthless. Don't waste your time on it.
- 1 reply to this review
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The renting this is the bad part about this. yea it seems great right now but once you quit the subscription or rhapsody dies off, you have no music which is why im sure so many people get their songs illegally or pay for every song or like me, do neither and have an mp3 player thats now useless because i fell into the same bought u did.
