Finding on-line music is pretty easy these days. With free sites like Pandora, Playlist.com, and even youtube, you can listen to a wide variety of music for free. So, is it worth it to pay $13 a month for a Rhapsody music subscription?
In my opinion, it definitely is. Having a Rhapsody music subscription allows me to listen to virtually whatever I want, create playlists, burn CDs (for an additional cost), and discover new musicians with ease. In fact, right now, I am listening to my latest discovery on Rhapsody, Bat for Lashes. Other free on-line services are also adequate for discovering new bands, but I have yet to find a free on-line service that allows me to listen to entire CDs the way that my Rhapsody music subscription does.
Searching on Rhapsody
Searching on Rhapsody is simple. You can look search for music by using the artist name, song title, keyword, or album title. You can also search for particular playlists containing music you like. It’s a simple process that anyone who has used a search engine will understand. In fact, most (if not all) of the Rhapsody music program is simple to use.
Rhapsody Music Guide
The main page of Rhapsody, this section allows you to sample new music, find music by genre, and listen to the current top artists, tracks, and CDs.
Musician Pages
Once you’ve found the musician you are looking for on Rhapsody, the main page for the musician comes up. On this page, the artist’s CDs are displayed on the right hand side with their cover art as well as any compilations they are featured on. You can select any of these CDs to listen to it on Rhapsody. The center of the page has a picture of the musician, a biography, and then a playlist of their most popular songs. This is one of my favorite features on Rhapsody because it allows me to familiarize myself with a musician very quickly by sampling the favorites from their music.
Finding New Artists
The right-hand side of the musician’s page is where finding new artist’s comes into play in my Rhapsody music subscription. Here, you can listen to a radio station that features music similar to the artist you are listening to. For example, since I am currently listening to Bat for Lashes on Rhapsody, there is a spot on her page that says, “Listen to Bat for Lashes Radio,” by clicking on this, a variety of songs similar to her style will come up and I am able to find new artists to fall in love with. In addition to this feature, the right-hand side of the Rhapsody page lists the artist’s influences, contemporaries, and followers. Each of the artists listed here can be clicked on and you will be taken to that artist’s main page. I’ve discovered artists like Richard Buckner and Catherine Feeney using this feature on Rhapsody. In addition to these features on artist pages, Rhapsody also recommends a variety of music through the “My Rhapsody” section, which I discuss below.
Rhapsody Radio
Just interested in listening to holiday music? Rhapsody music also offers a general radio feature. Channels include holiday music, various jazz styles, classical music, different rap styles, etc. Rhapsody has a section where you can save your favorite channels, for easy access to them in the future. When I’m listening to Rhapsody radio, if a song grabs my attention and I want to know more about the artist, all I have to do is click on the song or musician’s name in the player at the top of the page and the artist page will come up. This is also a great way to discover artists in a particular genre. I like this radio feature because it allows me to kick back and listen to whatever comes up. When I worked in an office, I listened to the Rhapsody music radio channel for 80’s pop music every Friday. Everyone in the office enjoyed listening to the wide selection of music that Rhapsody has to offer while reminiscing about Cindy Lauper and Journey.
Playlists
Creating a playlist on Rhapsody is simple. One just simply clicks on the “Playlist” tab and selects “Create a new playlist.” From there, you name your playlist and you can click and drag songs into the playlist. Organizing your Rhapsody music playlist is intuitive, using click and drag to change song orders. Rhapsody does allow you to select more than one song at once with your mouse, though, so if you want to move just one song, it is better to click on the number rather than on the song, itself. Once your Rhapsody music playlist is created, you can either keep it to yourself, burn it onto a CD or download it to your PC (for a fee), or publish it on Rhapsody’s playlists to share it with other Rhapsody members. I love the playlist feature because it allows me to create song lists for whatever mood I am in or any events that might be coming up, like a Halloween Party, etc.
My Rhapsody
Rhapsody music allows you to rate songs and, based on your ratings, channels listened to, and song listening history, Rhapsody creates a dynamic playlist and customized radio station. It also recommends artists, CDs, channels, and playlists. This is a comprehensive feature of my Rhapsody music subscription that makes finding music I’ll love quite easy. This page also gives you information about your song, album, and artist ratings as well as channels you’ve recently listened to.
Downloading Songs & Burning CDs
This process on Rhapsody music is also very simple. Songs typically cost about $.99 a piece and albums costs vary, but they are usually around $10 – $12. To purchase an album or song, one just clicks on “Buy mp3” and Rhapsody takes it from there, leading you through the process. I must confess that I rarely buy songs or CDs on Rhapsody because I typically listen to music only on my computer. Also, if I wanted to bring music with me when traveling, I would most likely just upgrade my membership to Rhapsody to go, where you can listen to Rhapsody via a compatible cell phone or download playlists and songs directly to a Rhapsody compatible music player. The subscription is only $2 more a month than the basic subscription ($12.99) that I currently have and, would be a saving for me if I decide to take the program on the road.
The Drawbacks
Of course, nothing in this world is perfect and a Rhapsody music subscription is no exception. The first drawback is that not every artist allows Rhapsody to broadcast their music. These artists are few and far between, but every so often I do get an unpleasant surprise when I find out an artist, like Bonnie Prince Billy, has a limited selection of music available through Rhapsody music.
The other drawback is more significant, however, and made me seriously consider whether or not I wanted to start up with Rhapsody again after the last time I canceled. This is their cancellation process. It is one of the most unpleasant experiences canceling a subscription I’ve ever had. Unlike some on-line subscriptions where you simply go through a questionnaire about why you are canceling and then you are done, with a Rhapsody music subscription, you have to call a number and cancel with a live person. This wouldn’t be so difficult if the people you cancel with were polite and pressure free. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The people who answer your call do not speak great English and are extremely pushy. They will try anything to keep you from canceling your membership. Customer service representatives have tried to give me another free trial, which I refused, and they’ve tried to convince me through asking if I’ve tried particular features or telling me that I haven’t fully appreciate my subscription, etc., etc. They’ll ask why you are canceling and they have an answer for any reason you give them. The process is painful and was enough to turn me off for some time before re-activating my old subscription. I find this to be a major drawback because it does not allow flexibility as far as your subscription goes and it makes the decision to subscribe to Rhapsody more complicated than it needs to be.
Overall
Overall, however, I did subscribe again and I am glad I did. Rhapsody is great for anyone who spends a lot of time in front of their computer or for those who like a bit of variety in their mp3 players. It is also a great tool for finding new music to love. In fact, for fans of the playlists I post on Associated Content, you may be interested to know that I’ve used Rhapsody to create each one and I have my own playlists on Rhapsody of them, which I listen to on a regular basis.
