Best Music Service???

[iTeen]

Ok, i am trying to find the best music downloading service. I am very tired of buying songs for $.99 from iTunes. Also i am trying to avoid limewire as there has been the recent rising amount of lawsuits.. So what would be the best music service, that can import songs to iTunes, for me? I was looking at something with a monthly unlimited downloading fee.
Thanks in advance
Jake

 

[zflauaus]

Honestly, you'll have a hard time finding a subscription-based unlimited music downloading service that is compatible with the iPod. Most of those services use WMA files with DRM and generally require Windows.

 

[iTeen]

Honestly, you'll have a hard time finding a subscription-based unlimited music downloading service that is compatible with the iPod. Most of those services use WMA files with DRM and generally require Windows.

ok so like rhapsody? it says its compatible with OSX, but do you actually download the music?

 

[Sesshi]

There are some cross-platform services which are subscription, but none of them work on iPod. If you're subscribing to an 'all-you-can-eat' service, there is little point in restricting yourself to a PC-only listening situation.

If you buy a (Windows only) non-iPod, you can usually enjoy higher sound quality with your own rips, more control over the sound (through better EQ) and better functionality as well as subscription services. PlaysforSure (subscription DRM compliant) machines used to be terrible, but several of them are now on a par with the iPod. The tradeoff is - depending on what you buy - the loss to different degrees of the 'I don't need a brain to use this' aspect.

If you want subscription, you're better off in the Windows world, be that via Boot Camp or buying a proper computer (Parallels didn't work very well with Rhapsody and Napster To Go the last time I tried). Boot Camp is however a flow-breaker for this sort of thing.