Rhapsody Music Downloads Part II - A pleasant experience?


Try Emusic FREE for 14 days, keep the 25 Free songs even if you decide not to continue.

Welcome back to Part II of Rhapsody Music Downloads! I hope you took an opportunity to enjoy the first week of your two-week trial. Must have been a joy to stream and download online music by the truckloads. Now...you did take the liberty to utilize the free trial, didn't you??

In my last article, I summarized the history surrounding the service which allows you to download and/or stream tens of 1000's of songs quickly with superior quality (at 160Kbps WMA, you can't go wrong...). Also covered were some of the elegant features in the new Rhapsody 3 version.

This article will be more practical in scope, covering the experience you may expect when encountering the fully-featured service. For more information, though, you may read the full Rhapsody music downloads review here.

If you compare the software to that of Napster or iTunes, you will find that for some reason the Rhapsody Music Downloads software takes a bit longer to download. The interface, as I've stated, is magnificent, although it looks less "current" than that of Napster or iTunes.

You will find that the songs are quite easy to find even though you will generally have an additional screen or two to click through compared with Napster and iTunes in order to get to your favorite song.

I.e., whereas Napster lists the most popular songs first, then conveniently lists the catalog underneath, the interface associated with the Rhapsody music downloads service will first list the five most popular songs on the first page. If, for example, your favorite hit doesn't show up there, you just click on "more", and more tracks list, which will list more of the popular songs.

How about albums? The list of albums, not to mention single releases, will portray on a window to the left of the popular track list.

With Rhapsody music downloads, the track selection is not present immediately on the same page that the album list is on. You'll have to click on the album cover or name in order to check out the track selection before you stream or download online music.

iTunes and Napster on the other hand will not only list the albums but it immediately lists the songs available for downloading online music on each album. And... they both also maintain the option of clicking on the album in order to navigate its track content.

The Rhapsody music downloads service does make up for this though. Unlike Napster, where you'll have to click to an extra page if you don't find your favorite album, all album, singles and even compilation albums where your favorite artists' songs may abound, come all on one page - the first page you arrive when you type in the artist's name.

Also as for Napster, when you actually come to the next page (by clicking on "more"), the releases are arranged in a haphazard fashion that makes finding what you want a bit more difficult before you download online music.

The situation is even more of a challenge with iTunes which does not immediately spoon-feed you with all album releases in its list.

So in short, Rhapsody wins bigtime with album/single release navigation; Napster and iTunes win slightly with track navigation. Oh... with the Rhapsody music downloads service, you'll also find tracks on the album that aren't available for download.

Looking for artists similar to the one you typed in? Rhapsody provides this conveniently on the right of the screen. You'll also find influential artists to your searched artist, and also followers (artists that your searched artist influenced). Spin-offs and precursors to the artist, if any, are listed too. No other digital music downloads service entertains these options.

For example, Napster will only list similar artists, whereas iTunes won't even go that far (I suppose they can get away with it though - at least for now).

I discussed Rhapsody's "My Library" search tool in my last article. But how elegant is the music store search tool? Is it better than iTunes? Napster? Wal-mart (yes, they offer downloads as well)?

I'll cover these, as well as how the Rhapsody music downloads service can be the cheapest for you out of all the legitimate digital music services (spending pennies on the dollar), and other odds and ends in a future article.

So, stay tuned. While you're waiting, don't forget to read the full Rhapsody music downloads review here.

Copyright © 2005. D.G. Rajakaruna

Discover the most up-to-date strategies involved in downloading today's music. Find out how you can download safely without thinning your wallet.

Check out:

http://www.download-latest-online-music.com


MORE RESOURCES:

Free Music Downloads
San Diego Reader, CA - Oct 10, 2008
By amberojeda | Posted October 10, 2008, 9:05 am Listener's hear the influence of jazz greats like Sarah Vaughan in San Diego singer Amber Ojeda's R&B ...


Play.com pips Amazon in the race for UK DRM-free music downloads
HEXUS, UK - Oct 10, 2008
Play.com's PlayDigital download site has today joined 7Digital as another UK-based MP3 etailer to offer music without digital-rights management (DRM) ...


Didiom Partners with CD Baby to Offer 2 Million DRM-Free Music ...
PR Web (press release), WA - Oct 6, 2008
Didiom and CD Baby joined forces to allow music fans to sample, buy, and download music from CD Baby artists through Didiom's newly redesigned mobile music ...


Vodafone offers MusicStation and DRM-free music downloads
Telecom Paper (subscription), Netherlands - Sep 22, 2008
Vodafone has introduced Vodafone MusicStation for its customers in New Zealand. Vodafone MusicStation is an unlimited music downloads service which enables ...


ABC News

Nokia launches 'iPod killer' with free music downloads
This is London, UK - Oct 3, 2008
Nokia has unveiled a new mobile phone and music download store to take on Apple's iPhone. The firm will offer unlimited music downloads for a year on ...
Nokia Tube and RIM BlackBerry Storm: touchscreen’s to rival iPhone Phones Review
Internet & Technology Investor's Business Daily (subscription)
all 634 news articles


Free music downloads at iomtoday
Isle of Man Today, UK - Oct 3, 2008
Simply click visit www.iomtoday.co.im/emusic and find out how you can download 50 songs from eMusic's vast catalogue of titles — for FREE. ...


BBC News

MySpace Offers Free Music Downloads -- with Ads
NewsFactor Network, CA - Sep 25, 2008
By Patricia Resende Free music is available to MySpace users -- with ads. Or they can buy music free of digital rights management on MySpace Music. ...
MySpace opens music store DM News
MySpace Music To Debut With Blue Chip Sponsors MediaPost Publications
McDonald's and Toyota among first sponsors of MySpace Music Brand Republic
Marketing Vox News - Marketnews.ca
all 862 news articles


Unlimited and DRM-free music downloads
NetGuide, New Zealand - Sep 15, 2008
Vodafone has launched what it calls “two significant advances in the way New Zealanders can access the music they love”. Vodafone MusicStation is an ...


Free music downloads: Stelios reveals all about new service
Silicon.com, UK - Sep 14, 2008
By Jo Best Stelios Haji-Ioannou - the entrepreneur behind the easyGroup companies - gave away details about his forthcoming easyMusic.com download service ...


DailyTech

Microsoft Taps Europe for Search R&D
BusinessWeek - Oct 6, 2008
The tickets enter users into the running for prizes such as free music downloads, air miles and video games. Ballmer's European trip includes stops in ...
Microsoft limits new search reward program to IE Computerworld
Microsoft Adds More Perks to Live Search Wired News
Microsoft's Live Search lures users with new rewards TG Daily
all 156 news articles

Free-Music-Downloads - Google News

Free Music Download Sites (Home Page) |   Free MP3 Downloads  |   RSS Feed  |   Artists  |   Music Resources  |   Music Downloads