An Internet Music Plan I Can Live With

[Brad Adrian]

<a href="http://www.listen.com/roadrunner/">http://www.listen.com/roadrunner/</a><br /><br />I know we've talked about music digital rights management a lot and we've discussed the ethics of using services like Napster, Morpheus and Kazaa <i>ad nauseum</i>, but here's a new wrinkle. To me, the temptation to download unlicensed music always came down to the fact that existing schemes for buying music online suffer from one or more major shortcomings:<br /><br />• The selection of artists and tunes stinks.<br />• I have to buy a whole CD just to get a couple of tunes I like.<br />• Purchased tunes are locked and cannot be copied.<br /><br />Well, today, I discovered the Rhapsody service from my high speed ISP, RoadRunner. If you've heard of this already, forgive me, but this program comes the closest of any plan I've seen yet to overcoming these limitations. It might even make a more honest person out of me... <!><br /><br />I've always said that I'd willingly pay up to $1.50 per tune if I could buy an entire CD filled only with songs that I like. And that's pretty close to what Rhapsody makes possible. Here's basically how it works...<br /><br />• First, you have to buy a subscription to the service, which is $9.95 per month. I'm not really nuts about this part, but if I plan to create at least a few CDs a month, it's worth the subcription price to me. For this fee, you get unlimited listening access to over 300,000 tracks from over 10,000 artists, including everybody from Eminem to U2 to ZZ Top.<br /><br />• Second, you build playlists of music by searching the databases by artist, track, album or composer. This part is trickier than it sounds, though, because the incredible selection makes it hard to whittle down the list to something manageable.<br /><br />• Third, you burn a CD with your playlist selections. This step costs $0.95 per track. The process is fast and easy, and you can even then rip the songs to MP3 format for listening on a Pocket PC.<br /><br />With this program, I was able to create a custom CD of hard-to-find tunes in just a few minutes. I don't have any problem paying for each song, either, because it's a lot better than buying a whole slew of CDs just to get the 11 songs I really wanted.<br /><br />Oh, in case you were wondering, the songs I was so eager to find included such gems as:<br /><br />China Grove<br />Black Water<br />Steamer Lane Breakdown<br />Listen To The Music<br />...and 7 more.<br /><br />[Two brownie points to the first person who knows what band recorded all these songs...]

[heov]

in case you're wondering, Apple will be rolling out their own music download service.

Apperantly they us the ACC (AAC?) format. read the story @ www.macrumors.com

I know it's a "rumor", but it's almost definitive in the mac community.

I'm not sure how the digital rights will work out though. Apperantly it's supposed to cost like 99cents per song...

[Ben909]

The Doobie Brothers? :roll:

[ctmagnus]

The BeeGees (sp/punctuation/capitalization?)?

[jerryd]

"Tis The Doobie Brothers.

This plan could work for me as well. $9.95 for a month is a bit steep, but $0.95 per track is reasonable. If their collection is strong it might swing me.

[jmarkevich]

Why didn't you just get a Doobie Brothers CD? It woulda been cheaper and you could have got "Long Train Running" and "Taking it to the streets" in there too.

I know I'd be somewhat uneasy with paying $9.95 and THEN another 12-15 bucks for a CD. That monthly fee doesn't ever pay for itself!

I think the best (legal) music delivery medium I've seen so far is a plain old department store... places like Future Shop buy in large enough quantities to make the $12.99 CDN CD a commonplace thing. Of course, you're not going to find more obscure stuff there (I want more Eric Johnson! Sonny Boy Williamson! Louis Armstrong! Stephane Grappelli!).

I think the commercial possibilities of Internet music delivery are still completely untapped.

[bikeman]

What about the fine print? :?: My ISP, Earthlink, also has a digital music program. What they don't initially tell you is that when you download the song, you download some sort of digital rights - if you cancel your subscription, you cancel the rights, and the song will not play. :evil:

[Jason Dunn]

What about the fine print? :?: My ISP, Earthlink, also has a digital music program. What they don't initially tell you is that when you download the song, you download some sort of digital rights - if you cancel your subscription, you cancel the rights, and the song will not play. :evil:

Ouch....that's nasty and should almost be illegal - tying you into their service "for life"....ugly! :2gunfire:

[brntcrsp]

I still vouch for http://www.emusic.com

I was exposed to lots of new artists in genres that I like, for $15 a month. It was great, and I had full control of the tracks after I bought them - sadly it was only 128 K bit stream, but I honestly can't tell the difference.

I really really liked the service, and I found so many new artists as well as some of my old favorites.

[JohnnyFlash]

Ouch....that's nasty and should almost be illegal :

Hmm. Stealing music IS illegal, though. I guess I'm an old fuddy duddy but comments like "almost enough to make me honest" really make me sick. Suddenly theft is acceptable. Young people today, I don't know.

If a CD (or "LP" as it was known in my day - ask your parents) was too expensive for me, I didn't buy it. I didn't think I had a right to it, or shoplift it and justify it to myself by saying the record companies were trying to rip me off.

[GoldKey]

What about the fine print? :?: My ISP, Earthlink, also has a digital music program. What they don't initially tell you is that when you download the song, you download some sort of digital rights - if you cancel your subscription, you cancel the rights, and the song will not play. :evil:

If you have the ability to burn a CD, I don't understand how this works. Does the CD only work in a PC. If it works in a regular CD player than once you have it, you have it. Same if they are letting you make an MP3 that you can transfer to a device other than your computer.

[wxrman]

... it's kind of like going to get gas at a filling station and being forced to get a lube job, tranny flush, etc. when all you wanted was gas.

It's a new world... we choose choice.

[Brad Adrian]

...if you cancel your subscription, you cancel the rights, and the song will not play...
That is absolutely NOT the case. If you cancel your subscription, you lose access to all the online music, and that's all. My CD has been burned, will play in any CD player, and I've ripped it to MP3s on my PC, so cancelling the subscription will have no effect.

I understand the comments about just buying a regular CD, but my point is that this lets me pick and choose, especially if I want to mix from various artists or my favorite group doesn't have a decent "best of..." collection.

I'd also rather not have the monthly fee, but one thing that does provide is some pretty nice streaming audio, even if I don't want to download and buy the tunes. With the subscription, I can listen to the entire track of any song they have, and can even create playlists for listening to my faves over and over again online. Still, since I don't listen to a lot of streaming audio, I'd rather just pay per track.

You can go to their site and take a look at all the artists and songs they've got. You can even listen to 30 seconds of each song without having to register.

Oh, and yes, it was the ever-popular Doobie Brothers! Now, if I can just remember the name of that song by Chicago...

[Brad Adrian]

...Of course, you're not going to find more obscure stuff there...
So, what're you saying? That my taste in music is "obscure?" ;) The main thing that's kept me from using sites like mp3.com has been lack of selection. Most of those sites don't have the really popular new stuff or the "older" stuff that I like (from the 70s and 80s). But with this service, I was just able to put together a "stadium" collection of songs from multiple decades and artists, like "We Are The Champions," "Takin' Care Of Business," "What I Like About You" and "Tequilla."

[Hyperluminal]

What are you talking about, mp3.com not having a good selection? :)
I found a Slovenian group there called Regina (www.reginakogoj.com), that's become one of my favorite groups. I don't even speak Slovenian... ;)

[Hyperluminal]

Ouch....that's nasty and should almost be illegal :

Hmm. Stealing music IS illegal, though. I guess I'm an old fuddy duddy but comments like "almost enough to make me honest" really make me sick. Suddenly theft is acceptable. Young people today, I don't know.

If a CD (or "LP" as it was known in my day - ask your parents) was too expensive for me, I didn't buy it. I didn't think I had a right to it, or shoplift it and justify it to myself by saying the record companies were trying to rip me off.

Why do you assume that all of us here are that young?
And as it happens to be, I am a youngin', yet I'm certainly not a pirate-- I spent $400 on Adobe Photoshop when I could have just as easily pirated it. Personally, I think piracy is despicible; if you don't want to buy something, live without it. Still, it seems like you're assuming we're all young whippersnappers here who pirate music without regard, which frankly offends me. I apologize if that's not what you're trying to imply, but that's the impression I get.

[Kati Compton]

I think the best (legal) music delivery medium I've seen so far is a plain old department store... places like Future Shop buy in large enough quantities to make the $12.99 CDN CD a commonplace thing. Of course, you're not going to find more obscure stuff there (I want more Eric Johnson! Sonny Boy Williamson! Louis Armstrong! Stephane Grappelli!).


Remember that CDs are generally cheaper in Canada. Most CDs in the US are at least $12-$13 US here.

[Kati Compton]

Oh, and yes, it was the ever-popular Doobie Brothers! Now, if I can just remember the name of that song by Chicago...

"25 or 6 to 4"?

[Brad Adrian]

...comments like "almost enough to make me honest" really make me sick...
I meant that comment entirely tongue-in-cheek. My point was simply that the right kind of plan might make people less likely to grab unlicensed copies. I'm sorry you took my remark the wrong way.

[Brad Adrian]

"25 or 6 to 4"?
That's not it, but now that you mention it, what the HECK does that title mean, anyway? That's bugged me for nearly 30 years!

[Hyperluminal]

Heh heh heh. The first time I heard that song, I was told what it meant. :wink:

Apparently, it means, 25 or 6 to 4, as in "twenty-five minutes or twenty-six until four o'clock." See? :)

[Steven Cedrone]

If a CD (or "LP" as it was known in my day - ask your parents) was too expensive for me, I didn't buy it.

Wait a minute, you never had a friend copy an album to casette and give it to you??? :wink:

Steve

[Lday]

Now, if I can just remember the name of that song by Chicago...[/quote]

Ah... Chicago! Back when I was a lad (just outta High School) I went to the best concert I've ever attended- Chicago and Santana together! That was back before Terry Kath died, so it was the REAL Chicago. Come to think of it, I think I still have albums 1-4 on vinyl (or maybe cassette- all my eight-tracks died). You can keep anything after that.

[Rob Alexander]

"25 or 6 to 4"?
That's not it, but now that you mention it, what the HECK does that title mean, anyway? That's bugged me for nearly 30 years!

According to the author of the song, Robert Lamm, the whole song is about staying up all night trying to write a song. Here's the explanation of the lyrics line-by-line.

(from http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/m25or6to4.html)

Waiting for the break of day--He's been up all night and now it's getting close to sunrise.

Searching for something to say--Trying to think of song lyrics.

Flashing lights against the sky--Perhaps stars or the traditional flashing neon hotel sign.

Giving up I close my eyes--He's exhausted and his eyes hurt from being open too long, so he closes them.

Staring blindly into space--This expression can be seen often on the faces of writers and reporters. Trust me.

Getting up to splash my face--Something you do when you're trying to stay awake, though a good cup of Starbuck's does wonders for Cecil and me.

Wanting just to stay awake, wondering how much I can take--How far can he push himself to get the song done?

Should I try to do some more?--This is the line that makes many think it's a drug song. But it is just as easily construed as a frustrated writer wondering if he should try to do some more lyrics/songwriting.

As for the curious title, Lamm says, "It's just a reference to the time of day"--as in "waiting for the break of day" at 25 or (2)6 minutes to 4 a.m. (3:35 or 3:34 a.m.)

[JvanEkris]

If a CD (or "LP" as it was known in my day - ask your parents) was too expensive for me, I didn't buy it. I didn't think I had a right to it, or shoplift it and justify it to myself by saying the record companies were trying to rip me off. I think the point people trying to make here is NOT that CD's are too expensive. Most people are are willing to pay for music. The LP never had restrictions to copying it to a cassette. However, the current popular CD's do have severe limitations to copy it to a MP3 player.

If you buy music, you want to transfer it to a more appropriate medium, like a PocketPC. This is a right provided to me by international copright laws. Since i travel by trains and plains about 40 hours a week, this is extremely important to me.

As i see it, current popular CD's do not provide me with the possibility to transfer my music to a appropriate medium. Therefor i stopped buying them. The service Brad mentions does provide me with a good alternative. I therefor hope that this service soon comes available to Europe as well !

Jaap

Jaap

[jmarkevich]

... places like Future Shop buy in large enough quantities to make the $12.99 CDN CD a commonplace thing.


Remember that CDs are generally cheaper in Canada. Most CDs in the US are at least $12-$13 US here.

Actually, according to what I've seen, most things are almost the same price. The duty & exchange keeps our money on our side of the border.

The problem is when I want that Eric Johnson CD off the 'net... it comes to about $35 CDN after shipping and exchange! Yike!

[jmarkevich]

...Of course, you're not going to find more obscure stuff there...
So, what're you saying? That my taste in music is "obscure?" ;)

..., like "We Are The Champions," "Takin' Care Of Business," "What I Like About You" and "Tequilla."

Heh heh... no way, It's "Classic rock" and you can hear it all over the radio (at least around here). The obscure stuff was what I had in brackets.

Ever try to find a "Bela Fleck" CD in Wal-Mart? :lol:

[griffter]

I was a member of emusic until recently. It really is a wonderful service, and I downloaded a lot of music. However over time, the pool of music that I wanted to download dwindled. I read this thread with interest yesterday, and immediately joined rhapsody. For me this is a great deal; my computer is connected to the web and I am nearby ~90% of the day, so streaming audio is just fine.

A minor downside. The cost to burn a cd works out at about what one would pay for the real thing - music, album sleeve, cd, case, and all. If is cost a total of $8-$9 per cd then this would be perfect.

Griffter

[Elad Yakobowicz]

What about the fine print? :?: My ISP, Earthlink, also has a digital music program. What they don't initially tell you is that when you download the song, you download some sort of digital rights - if you cancel your subscription, you cancel the rights, and the song will not play. :evil:

:deal: and :pukeface:

[Elad Yakobowicz]

I just gave Rapsody Trial a shot. Has potential - just my 2 cents.

[Orange]

I have a 30 day trial and promptly canceled it. I was looking for classical but the selection is lacking. Plus the service popped constantly, perhaps because of my wireless setup. I liked pressplay's interface better (but their classical selection also isn't too great), so I use neither service.

[Jason Dunn]

If a CD (or "LP" as it was known in my day - ask your parents) was too expensive for me, I didn't buy it.

Wait a minute, you never had a friend copy an album to casette and give it to you??? :wink:

EXACTLY! When I grew up it was commonplace to make "mix tapes" of stuff off the radio, other casettes you had, etc. Song trading has been around for a long, long time - it's ignorant to believe that the Internet somehow changed the behaviour of people. It just changed the WAY in which people traded songs and it became dangerous enough for the record companies to notice. People have had a taste of listening to the music they WANT, and that's why music swapping has always been popular. The record companies either need to:

a) wake up to this fact and give people an honest, easy, and cheap way to access the music they want, or

b) wither away and die

It will take some time, but "A" will happen. I still buy many CDs, but I'd probably spent even more money per month if I could have a cheap way to buy individual songs I like on the radio. And don't say "singles" - great idea, poor execution - singles up here in Canada cost almost as much as the full albums (about $12 for a single vs $17 for the whole album).

[ricksfiona]

I love it!!! It streams great and the selection REALLY is very good. I was a little concerned about the 128kb sample rate since I usually sample at 160kb, but the warble doesn't seem to come through. So this is cool.

Some people may say "Why should I use this service when I can go to Kazaa and get music for free?". I say "because you get what you want, no fake files, plus the quality of the files is very good. AND the search engine is very good". You may want to do the Kazaa shuffle if Rhapsody doesn't have the song you are looking for... I did a search for some pretty old music and Rhapsody had it.

I know some pretty cheap people and they will never shell out $9.95 for this service. Some people also say "A CD from Rhapsody comes out to the same cost if you bought the CD at the store". Yes, but how many of the tracks on that CD do you actually want? It's pretty rare that I want more than 4 tracks on a single CD. I think $1 is totally reasonable for a single track. So you get a CD with ALL the tracks you want. I'll still buy a CD at the store if it's totally great to get that extra bit of fidelity, and you do get the artwork/photos on the case which is sometimes cool.

If they lower the cost of the service to say, $4.95/month, it would be a no brainer.

[ctmagnus]

singles up here in Canada cost almost as much as the full albums (about $12 for a single vs $17 for the whole album).

Except here. An album is typically ~$25 locally*. Except if a concert happens to roll around, in which case you'll be able to get a CD at the concert for the same as in a chain store. But considering we had a concert by a fairly major artist here last summer, it'll be ~10 years before that happens again. :(

* that equates to being more than the cost of a new release + shipping + PST + GST of a new release ordered from the web. :pukeface:

[Crystal Eitle]

Wow! I just downloaded the trial of Rhapsody and I really like it.

Only problem: my PC has awful-sounding cheapie speakers.

I seem to remember seeing a thread here about hooking up your PC to your stereo, but now I can't find it. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

[Brad Adrian]

Ever try to find a "Bela Fleck" CD in Wal-Mart? :lol:
OMG!!! Bela Fleck and the Flecktones?!?!? You are the ONLY other person in the whole world I've ever met who has heard of this group. I first heard them when they opened for Dave Matthews back in 1996 and really enjoyed their unique sound.

I've gotta go search for them on Rhapsody right now...!

[Kati Compton]

I seem to remember seeing a thread here about hooking up your PC to your stereo, but now I can't find it. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Get a cable that has male phono plug (ie, the plug on your speakers) at one end, and RCA (the bigger plugs that go into the jacks on the back of an amp) at the other. Make sure it's stereo to stereo. Then use that cable to plug from computer into amp. Done. :)

[Crystal Eitle]

Bela Fleck: I've heard of them, but never heard them.

Never mind about the hooking-up-to-the-stereo question; right on the Rhapsody site there's instructions about cables. I'm going to Radio Shack tomorrow to pick me up a pair.

Wow, maybe there's other services like this out there, but I'm kinda new to Internet radio (still getting used to my new fast Internet connection and new-used computer). Anyway, I'm really impressed by Rhapsody - the browsing feature on it is really fun, and looks like a great way to find out about new artists. I went searching for the song "Genius of Love" by Tom Tom Club, found the category "Alt Dance", and am now grooving to this really cool Norwegian band called Royskopp that I'd never heard of before. Neat!!!! 8)

[Crystal Eitle]

Update: Whoops, Kati, I didn't see your reply when I started composing my last post. Thanks!!!!

[Kati Compton]

"25 or 6 to 4"?
That's not it, ...

Here's the listing off of my "Very Best Of Chicago: Only the Beginning" CD... Maybe it's on there...

Make Me Smile
25 Or 6 To 4
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
Beginnings
Questions 67 and 68
I'm a Man
Colour My World
Free
Lowdown
Saturday In The Park
Dialogue (Part I & II)
Just You 'N' Me
Feelin' Stronger Every Day
(I've Been) Searchin' So Long
Wishing You Were Here
Call On Me
Happy Man
Another Rainy Day In New York City
If You Leave Me Now
Old Days
Baby, What A Big Surprise
Take Me Back To Chicago
Alive Again
No Tell Lover
Love Me Tomorrow
Hard To Say I'm Sorry / Get Away
Stay The Night
Hard Habit To Break
You're The Inspiration
Along Comes A Woman
Will You Still Love Me?
If She Would Have Been Faithful...
Look Away
What Kind Of Man Would I Be?
I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love
We Can Last Forever
You're Not Alone
Chasin' The Wind
Sing Sing Sing

[Crystal Eitle]

AAARRRGGH! No Led Zeppelin! I'm very disappointed about this. :|

[Brad Adrian]

Maybe it's on there...

Hard To Say I'm Sorry / Get Away


That's IT! Thanks, Kati!

[gadfly]

Brad,

While you're on Rhapsody check out Robert Randolph & the Family Band "Live at the Wetlands". I know it's on there. I just saw them in Seattle and they kicked ass.

Shane

[surur]

Ive just looked at the free trial, and I am a bit disappointed. Their selection is not very deep, for e.g they do not have any Pandora's box (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000076IT/qid=1050924964/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/102-3081824-5575312), and they do not have the best Hildegard von Bingen compilation (Vision: the music of Hildegard von Bingen (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000002SL6/qid=1050924696/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/102-3081824-5575312?v=glance&s=music&n=507846#product-details), very ethereal) and no Sarah Mclachlan (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000002VN7/ref=pd_bxgy_img_2/102-3081824-5575312?v=glance&s=music) at all. And the version of Celine Dion's "drove all night" is not the one my wife likes.

All this would be acceptable if there was no subscription fee, or if the total cost was much lower. However would you pay a subscription fee to your local record store if they did not have the full selection, and it meant you had to subscribe to 3-4 different stores to cover all your tastes? If it was truly a la carte then their limited selection would not make any difference. But if I am only going to subscribe to *one* service, this one will obviously not be it.

Also I think they should download at a higher bitrate (e.g. 256kb/sec) for tracks you buy (so that you have some hope of successfully trans-coding to another format without totally destroying the track).

Anyways, it seems a good start, maybe it will be better in the future.

Surur

PS: After adding the links, I realized the best people to start a music service is obviously Amazon. They have the widest selection, everything I search for I find (which is more than I can say for Rhapsody). Come on Mr Bezos!

[patwoods]

Ever try to find a "Bela Fleck" CD in Wal-Mart? :lol:
OMG!!! Bela Fleck and the Flecktones?!?!? You are the ONLY other person in the whole world I've ever met who has heard of this group. I first heard them when they opened for Dave Matthews back in 1996 and really enjoyed their unique sound.

I've gotta go search for them on Rhapsody right now...!

'The Sinister Minister' is a righteous jam... :alfdance:

[griffter]

no Sarah Mclachlan (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000002VN7/ref=pd_bxgy_img_2/102-3081824-5575312?v=glance&s=music) at all.

I believe that they do have Sara McLachlan, which album were you looking for? I see several.

The service is not perfect, but for $10 a month it seems like a good deal to me.

[surur]

no Sarah Mclachlan (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000002VN7/ref=pd_bxgy_img_2/102-3081824-5575312?v=glance&s=music) at all.

I believe that they do have Sara McLachlan, which album were you looking for? I see several.

The service is not perfect, but for $10 a month it seems like a good deal to me.

Quite right, I searched under composer by accident. The others are still missing however. The point I was making is really that unless their selection is comprehensive they should not go for a subscription service (as then you would need several), but rather sell each track separately, so that you could shop around without incurring a penalty. This is especially true as their tracks arnt especially cheaper than they are on an album.

Surur

[griffter]

Surur,

Forgive me, but you do realise that this is a streaming audio service (hence the subscription), that also permits you to purchase certain tracks for download should you wish?

You can listen to as much music as you would like for the $10 subscription.

[Marcel_Proust]

Other than emusic, I don't believe any of these services are available in my second home, Canada.
I'd be happy if proven wrong.

[JohnnyFlash]

[quote="Jason Dunn
EXACTLY! When I grew up it was commonplace to make "mix tapes" of stuff off the radio, other casettes you had, etc.).[/quote]

I think that's different. Getting the occasional track from a friend is completely different from the wholesale piracy of entire albums. People quite happily download entire albums without a second thought. And not to mention the fact that it seems copying games for consoles and PCs is completely out of control.

So yes, I do think it's different. I do think that currently there is far less emphasis on copyright and IP than there should be, and a tremendous rise of an "I'm entitled to it" attitude.

[Jason Dunn]

Other than emusic, I don't believe any of these services are available in my second home, Canada.
I'd be happy if proven wrong.

Yeah, I'm still waiting for one myself... :evil:

[trachy]

I think that's different. Getting the occasional track from a friend is completely different from the wholesale piracy of entire albums. People quite happily download entire albums without a second thought. And not to mention the fact that it seems copying games for consoles and PCs is completely out of control.

So, it was okay when people were stealing just a little bit back in the day? And now that it's easier it's abhorrable? There are many good arguments against file sharing, but this not one of them.

IMHO, the masses are against file sharing because it's just not as easy as dubbing a cassette tape. If the average Boomer could figure out how to load up a file sharing client and browse for music, it would be a non-issue.

- Drew

[Brad Adrian]

Okay, I've just spent another couple of evenings trying out this Rhapsody service. I am convinced that it's worth the $9.95 per month JUST FOR THE STREAMING. Even if I never burn another CD with the service, I've started to really appreciate the ability to find and listen to all the songs I love. Their selection of older tunes is amazing and I've been able to find each and every song I've wanted, including the amazing Peter Frampton's "Do You Feel Like We Do?"

WOW!!!!

[Crystal Eitle]

Okay, I've just spent another couple of evenings trying out this Rhapsody service. I am convinced that it's worth the $9.95 per month JUST FOR THE STREAMING.

I agree. I've been in music heaven. I especially enjoy the radio stations. If you haven't tried this yet, look up one of your favorite artists and then click on the radio station based on that artist. You're sure to hear lots of tunes you're familiar with and enjoy, as well as ones you may not know, but are still likely to enjoy.

And it's a good way to try out albums and see if you really want to buy them. I have a few albums queued up that I've been listening to -- the listen-on-demand thing is really nice -- and if I decide I can't live without them, I'll probably go to the store and buy them. If not, I still don't have to pay the $1 per song download, because I can still listen to them on my computer whenever I want (I just can't take them with me).

I bought a cable to hook up my computer to my stereo, so I'm even getting fairly decent sound!

Thanks for pointing us to this service.