05-09-2005, 06:37 AM
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Oracle
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 899
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I think so far:
Napster To Go advantages:
- can be fully integrated within WMP10 application (with Rhapsody you can still use WMP10 to play your downloaded tracks since they come as WMA, but you still need the Rhapsody app for licensing management)
- 128kbps WMA bitrate saves space so you can directly squeeze more songs per given amount of space
- sells whole albums for $9.99 each (cheaper than buying the tracks individually at 99 cents each)
Rhapsody To Go advantages:
- Rhapsody app has been quite a bit more stable and responsive for me than the Napster app (or even the Napster plugin for WMP10). No crashes, and streaming/downloading response from the Rhapsody server has been markedly more responsive than from Napster. I'm not sure why Real maintains completely separate applications and music stores (and file formats) for Rhapsody and the RealPlayer Music Store, but I'm thankful because I didn't much care for the RealPlayer app. On the downside the RealPlayer Music Store is the only one that offer Rolling Stone top tracks for for purchase at a discounted 49 cents each (because I still need to purchase the tracks if I want to burn an audio CD).
- 160kbps WMA download bitrate (streaming is still using 128kbps AAC I think) technically gives higher quality, but eats more space (though you can automatically convert to lower WMA bitrate when transferring to the PPC).
- Rhapsody app even supports iPod (AAC/FairPlay) directly for purchased tracks
- Individual tracks can be purchased cheaper at 89 cents each, but no further discount per album
- I like Rhapsody's music management interface more than Napster (though WMP10's interface is good too)
- I think Rhapsody offers discounted long-term subscription (if you're truly committed that is)...
In fact Rhapsody seems to be to be some bizarre hybrid that works surprisingly well. It's from Real but doesn't use RealPlayer or Real's media format at all (IIRC it originated from their Listen.com acquisition). It streams as AAC files (though different from the iTunes FairPlay AAC), but downloads as WMA DRM files (though it's still not integrated directly into WMP10 like other WM-based music stores). And for purchased tracks it supports FairPlay AAC and various WMA "playsforsure" bitrates.
But heck I'm not even sure if it can directly play songs purchased from RealPlayer Music Store (which I presume is in Real's native media format)? What's weird, when setting file associations, types assigned to Rhapsody show up as just assigned to "RealPlayer" so it's even more confusing...
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