The other day I wrote Music Lovers Nirvana, about the ready availability of online music, and how Rhapsody.com had 5 out of 5 albums reviewed in Entertainment Weekly. I thought I test that further with the latest issue of Utne Reader (Sept/Oct 2008 ) and a slightly old issue of Rolling Stone (6/12/08). The Utne Reader reviewed 6 albums and Rhapsody.com had 4, with one album not yet released but since they had the artist’s 7 other albums it’s pretty sure they will get it. The one hold out even looks promising since they had the artist’s previous album. For Rolling Stone, Rhapsody.com had 13 out of 13 albums reviewed. I should go out and buy some obscure music journals to test further, but that’s for the future.
I really have to wonder why all true music fans don’t subscribe to Rhapsody.com. Many say they don’t want to rent music, At $12.99 a month, it could be considered a music preview service so you listen to Rhapsody first and then buy your favorites on CD later.
Here are the albums reviewed. The number in () are the number of albums Rhapsody.com have by the artist. I also checked Amazon.com to see what it would cost to buy the album. The first price is for CD/the second for MP3 album if it’s available. All were available on Rhapsody.com unless noted.
Utne Reader Sept/Oct 2008
- Soul Sides, v 1 & v 2 Various Artists $13.98
- Fair Ain’t Fair by Tim Fite (1) $15.98/$8.99 – not on Rhapsody
- Seasons of Change by Brian Blade (3) $14.99/$9.49
- Carried to Dust by Calexico (7) $13.99 not yet released
- The Best of Lydia Mendoza (7) $16.98/$8.99
Rolling Stone 6/12/8
- Evil Urges by My Morning Jacket (9) $8.99/$8.99
- Weezer by Weezer (6) $9.99/$5.00
- Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes (1) $10.49/$5.00
- Seeing Sound by N.E.R.D. (3) $11.99/$9.49
- Like a Fire by Solomon Burke (24) $14.99/$9.90
- We Started Nothing by The Ting Tings (1) $6.99/$7.99
- Perfectly Clear by Jewel (6) $9.99/$8.99
- Flavor of Entanglement by Alanis Morrisette (9) $9.99/$8.99
- All I Intended to Be by Emmylou Harris (31) $9.99/$8.99
- Circus Monkey by Walter Becker (6) $9.99/$8.99
- The Declaration by Ashanti (8 ) $9.99/$8.99
- Here We Stand by The Fratellis (2) $12.99
- Wanderlust by Gavin Rossdale (1) $9.99/$8.99
This is like being a music store owner and getting to play all the albums, or like being a music reviewer and getting all the new albums sent to you. It’s hard to believe it’s legal. It’s hard to believe that music companies would support this, but they do.
The only downside I can see to using Rhapsody.com is when an album goes out of print it gets removed from their server. So if you love an album and want it for all time then you should buy it. However, if the album is popular enough to always stay in print you don’t have to worry.
I wonder how much the artists make from their music being on subscription music services? Anyone know?
Jim
Auxiliary Memory 