The Benefits of Subscription 'Downloading'

Last week for my B-Day - yes, dinosaurs have learned how to type blogs, apparently - I got an iTunes gift card - thanks, LP. For 1 Dollar/Song, you don't get much bang for your buck. But I stretched it, downloading some NIN, Rush, Leonard Cohen, and Jane's Addiction ('Superhero', yeah!)

But, today I feel empty. :( Sadly, I want MORE. I always want more. It's my borderline addictive personality, I suppose, but looking at iTunes last night made me realize how much I've missed out on certain new musical acts (Muse, I promise I'll play catch-up). Even some musical movements have alluded me (Prog Rock, hello?).

So, that being said, I've officially begun the process of whoring myself out to the musical download subscription crowd. Research is a bitch, because I'm not one hundred percent what some of the warnings are with the subscription service. So far I've looked at Napster - who thought they would be around nearly a decade later? - and Rhapsody for my choice of cheapskate music-guy home.

Which one is better, you ask?

In a word, probably Rhapsody. Even though iTunes has reached the 5 billion downloads mark - godamn! - Rhapsody is intending on bringing down that beast, like a pigmy tribe (is that un-PC? oh well).

Rhapsody announced on July 2 (yes, dinos can Google News, too!) that their downloads would be compatible with the Apple iPod (a must for me). That's what Napster, unfortunately, lacks. So, all in all, I'll probably be going with Rhapsody. The other variable is burnability. I don't know that Rhapsody is - I haven't done THAT much research - but I'm hoping that it is.

Happy July; here comes August.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, I just found out that, to be accessible to an iPod, you must buy the MP3 songs on Rhapsody for .99 a pop, JUST LIKE ItUNES. What a gyp! (Sorry, gypsies, for that slanderous remark).

You CAN upload songs to an MP3 player on the 14.99 Rhapsody-to-go service, but it has to be PC and it won't work with an iPod. Which sucks, if you can't part with the Apple of your eye. And I can't. I love my iPod.

EVEN MORE OF AN UPDATE: Okay, so here's the thing. You CAN burn CDs, but you have to BUY the music to be able to do that. Does it make any sense? I'll go into more depth. You PAY for the subscription, for the RIGHT - so to speak - to listen to the music. But to own it, you have to BUY it, song buy song or album by album, like in iTunes.

The down-low on Rhapsody: You can listen to all the music you want for 12.99 or 14.99 a month, but you don't own the music. You don't even download the music to your computer. It stays on the Rhapsody player. If you want to use an iPod, you have to buy the songs. If you want to put the songs on an MP3 player, it has to be Rhapsody compatible.

Here's a list of compatible players.