Mac compatible music services ??

[17luv]

Hello! New mac-switcher who misses her Rhapsody music service and who can't seem to find any music service similiar (flat fee each month listen to any album in their database). Is there anything outthere like that that is Mac-friendly?? Thanks in advance!

 

[dr_lha]

Assuming you don't want to listen to the same album more than 5 times, Napster will allow you to listen to anything in their database through a web interface that I can confirm works in Safari, and best of all its free.

Otherwise I think there are no other Mac Friendly options for subscription music.

 

[17luv]

Thanks I will have to try Napster. I thought Rhapsody's new web interface setup would work independent of OS but it won't let me log in and I get a we only do window's message at the registration page.

 

[dpaanlka]

Hello! New mac-switcher who misses her Rhapsody music service and who can't seem to find any music service similiar (flat fee each month listen to any album in their database). Is there anything outthere like that that is Mac-friendly?? Thanks in advance!

Are you aware that if you stopped paying that fee, at any time in the future, it becomes illegal for you to listen to any songs you may have downloaded? iTunes really is the better deal. 2 Cents

 

[janey]

yahoo music and emusic work on macs, but..otherwise...

 

[dr_lha]

Are you aware that if you stopped paying that fee, at any time in the future, it becomes illegal for you to listen to any songs you may have downloaded? iTunes really is the better deal. 2 Cents

I think the OP was not interested in a political discussion though, and probably doesn't care for your 2 cents.

 

[dr_lha]

Thanks I will have to try Napster. I thought Rhapsody's new web interface setup would work independent of OS but it won't let me log in and I get a we only do window's message at the registration page.

It requires a Windows only plugin IIRC. Napsters interface is based purely on Flash so works on anything. However the music quality is not fantastic unfortunately.

 

[dpaanlka]

I think the OP was not interested in a political discussion though, and probably doesn't care for your 2 cents.

It's advice. You want to keep the music you pay for, right? According to those subscription plans, you don't actually own any music after paying all that money. So while it may seem like a sweet deal now, when it's all over, it has a bitter after-taste. Since every Mac comese with the premiere online music service bundled with it, why not give this a try as a new Mac owner?

 

[17luv]

^_^ Have had rhapsody for a while and love it, beats iTunes (for my usage) hands down. There are two types of paid service. One, you pay flat fee of 9.99 (think but 3month so $30) and you can listen to a crap load of music stations but my favorite feature is that I can listen to all the albums in their database all kinds of stuff (with great recommendations based on the album) full length tracks mostly with an option to buy for $.89 per track or by album. The other service is 14.99 (?) and you can 'borrow' tracks you want to take with you on compatible devices (like your pda, etc just not iPod 🙁 ) and if you don't pay your music becomes unplayable on that device (after so many days).
I would love to find something like that for my MBP I don't want to install XP (whats the point in switching right?) just to play music.

Someone mentioned Yahoo, I get an error there saying OS not supported and same at the help for the music service, is there something I am missing. Would love to try at Yahoo cuz they are .79 per track last I saw 😀

 

[dr_lha]

Yeah, Yahoo only supports Windows too. I think the main issue here is that all of these subscription services are based in some way around Microsoft DRM.

 

[dr_lha]

It's advice. You want to keep the music you pay for, right?

Not everyone does though. I personally agree with you, I wouldn't touch a subscription music service with a barge pole, but I can see why others would and was trying to help the OP out by suggesting the only real option on Mac (free Napster).

 

[mduser63]

Why is everyone saying Rhapsody's web interface doesn't work with Macs? I use it on my PowerBook fairly regularly. I'm not using the paid service, just the 25 songs/month free version, but it works fine. It's true that you need a plugin, but it's not Windows only, there are Mac and Windows version.

It was fairly big news in the Mac world when Real announced Mac support for Rhapsody.

From Rhapsody.com:
"Rhapsody.com is a streamlined, Internet-only version of RealNetworks' Rhapsody, called (sic) now available. Because Rhapsody.com exists on the World Wide Web, you can use it from most computers that have a browser installed and access to the Internet, including Mac and Linux. "

 

[dr_lha]

Fair enough. Sounds like thats the way to go then.

EDIT: I'm trying it out now, and it would appear that it requires Firefox to work. Its installing some plugin thing now.

EDIT: OK, after installing the plugin with Firefox it now allows me to login with Safari.

Hey, it works, I'm playing music. Their website is horribly slow though.

 

[17luv]

Thanks all, I guess I will try firefox and see if I can get Rhapsody up and running too as well as trying out Napster.

^^As far as not owning the music, its nice/I like it because I get to try out a lot of different artists listen to the album several times etc w/o having to buy it if say after listening to it 3/4 times I don't want to listen for a while or at all. I justify it to myself (cuz I love so many genres of music) by saying if I had bought 3 albums in 3 months it would come out about the same but with a subscription service I can listen to that times however much I choose at the same price (and get a discount on the albums I want to keep/take with me away from the computer) ^_^

 

[janey]

whoops, was wrong about yahoo music 🙁
most of them use DRM that the latest and last version of windows media player for mac doesn't support, hence...yeah.

 

[balamw]

just not iPod

FWIW purchased tracks from Rhapsody can be transferred to iPods (on Windows at least) and can even be de-DRMed using hymn if your iPod is old enough.

B