“All the music you want. Just 10 bucks a month” is currently Rhapsody’s tag line in their homepage. And by “all the music you want” they meant over 14 million songs to choose from. Choosing music is one thing, carrying them with you everywhere you go is another. Let us guide you on exploring what Rhapsody has to offer.
The Good
- A large number and variety of songs to choose from
- Can be accessed through mobile devices
- Charts (tracks, artist, albums), radio, and reviews keep you updated about the latest trends in music
- Relatively cheap (listen to all the songs for $10-$15 monthly)
- All plans come with a 14-day trial (credit card is required)
- Discount coupons, Gift Cards and Prepaid cards
- The downloaded MP3s are DRM-free
The Bad
- Services are only available in the United States and not available to other countries.
- MP3 purchases are not included in the subscription plans
- Desktop application and web player has limited compatibility
Membership Plans
Rhapsody Premier
Price: $9.99 per month
This includes online streaming, unlimited home audio listening, and one mobile device access.
Rhapsody Premier Plus
Price: $14.99 per month
Same with Rhapsody Premier but you can access your music on 3 mobile devices
Rhapsody MP3 Store
Price: $0.69 – $1.29 per song and $4.99 – $14.99 per album
Extensive and Up to Date Music Archive
Rhapsody tied up with MTV Network to deliver the freshest music downloads even before it is released in stores. Rhapsody’s team of music experts can also assist you to further expand your music expertise by providing Rhapsody Charts and Rhapsody Radio. Extra information such as artist biographies and reviews are constantly added.
Rhapsody members can connect to each other via Facebook. It is a great avenue for sharing and showing off your music preference. Checking other members’ playlist may also surprise you with new music you may like. If you just want to listen to the songs even without downloading, the subscription plans let you listen to unlimited songs through the Rhapsody app. The drag and drop function makes it easier to build a playlist to suit your lifestyle.
MP3 Purchases Not Included
By subscribing to the membership plans, you can listen to all the music but they are not yours to keep. They are only accessible as long as you are an active member. You have to purchase songs separately to completely own them even if your subscription is cancelled. Rhapsody MP3 Store sells songs from $0.69 to $1.29 and albums from $4.99 to $14.99. You need to have a separate Rhapsody MP3 store account to purchase.
Prepaid download cards are available at Target or Radio Shack and Target stores at $15, $25, or $50 denominations. Gift cards are also available at Costco. There are currently two types including MP3 download and subscription cards.
Rhapsody Applications Compatibility
To listen to your music, you must have Rhapsody software installed in your devices. However, other players such as the web player are Flash-operated so it is not functional with iPad, iPhone and iPod. The desktop app is only compatible with Windows.
Conclusion
The $10-$15 monthly plan is cheap considering you can listen to full-length songs from their large music collection but if you are the type that prefers downloading and keeping the songs then Rhapsody may just be like any other online music service. The service is only available to the United States. Rhapsody still provides a great way to explore and listen to music with less painful cost.
Do you have any experiences about Rhapsody? Share your stories, questions, comments and suggestions below?
About Aurora Freegard
