Online Music Services?
 

Wasn't sure if this should go here or Omni, but I'll shoot for here. Has anyone used the online music services like Rhapsody or last.fm? There is a lot of music I'd like (mostly classical, but all kinds of stuff) and instead of paying Apple a ton of money for it, I'm wondering if anyone has used the alternatives.

Rhapsody says that, for $10/month, you can access all their music library on your computer, phone, and compatible home theater equipment. They say that it doesn't stream, but rather the device stores the music so you can listen on, say, a plane.

How does this work for people who have it?

Rhapsody is great. You can stream or download. Downloading songs will cost per song, but streaming is unlimited with most plans. I believe they're running first 2 months free right now if you sign-up, give it a try.

Why pay? You can get freebies like this....http://www.181.fm/ No commercials.

I agree, for $10 per month you get a gargantuin amount of music to download and transfer to various devices for listening. They can also stream if you like, perhaps to just listen and see if you like something. Downloads are very fast in my experience.

When they first became independent a year or so ago, they had some issues, expecially with new releases. This is no longer a problem and new releases are available each Tuesday, at least by noon, if not first thing. They don't always update their "new releases" page as quickly as I would like, but the albums are there to search and download. I just look on Amazon to see whats new and then get the music from Rhapsody.

The problem with streaming stations like that is that they rely 100% on an active data signal. Pop into a tunnel or building with bad signals, and the music is gone. I'd rather pay $10/month for something that has all the music I want with local caching than risk silence.

Also, most operators limit you to 5GB/month, and you'll burn through that pretty quickly when you stream music all day long.

do these stations jumble up the songs so they are not in the same order when they repeat the "loop"

I have been places and heard the same songs in the same order just at a different time of the day :(

RB

I've used Rhapsody for years, and the service has a lot going for it.

If you're primarily interested in streaming access on your PC and streaming + offline access on your phone, you could also consider Mog, Rdio, and Thumbplay. These latter ones have, I believe, smaller libraries than Rhapsody, but you may prefer their interfaces.

Grooveshark has a very large albeit rather awfully disorganized library, but I believe it's cheaper than the other services.

are there any free programs to record streaming audio ?

I would like something that I can play back in mono so I only have to use one ear piece when I am riding my bike, safer that way,

and a lower bit rate so more will fit on my old one GB MP3 player !

AM radio quality is good enough.....

thanks for the help

RB

Does that apply to internet radio in iTunes? I have it on much of the day.

I really like slacker. Its about $50/yr and gives you unlimited streaming, as well as caching on some smart phones.

He's talking about cellular carriers, for when you stream music on your phone. It has nothing to do with iTunes internet radio.

I didn't realize the online music service discussion was for one's cell phone.

It doesn't have to be...wasn't part of my initial question. But ScottC was talking about streaming music to a phone. I would prefer to download music to my phone so I don't have to stream it every time.

Yeah, be careful about that... If you go with Rhapsody (or some other service which lets you download DRM'd music) it will only work on specific devices. For example, Rhapsody downloads will NOT work on an iPod/iPhone. (their streaming service does though).

http://www.rhapsody.com/support/mp3_..._with_rhapsody

If you are going to wind up having to stream, I prefer Pandora. For non-streaming, I use iMusic, which I believe is only available on rooted Android phones.

Good luck, this whole topic is a serious PITA.

-SF