So Real is supposedly the leader in the streaming services and today marks a major update so I figured I would check it out.
The new Rhapsody lets anyone* listen to and legally share songs, of their choosing, every month. Consumers simply download the Rhapsody jukebox software from www.rhapsody.com. Once downloaded, they can listen to 25 full tracks from Rhapsody’s library of over one million songs each month, and enjoy unlimited access to the jukebox’s other features at no additional cost. In addition, Real also announced significant enhancements to its critically-acclaimed Rhapsody Unlimited service, and added a new tier called Rhapsody To Go, designed to provide customers the ultimate experience in portable digital music. [RealNetworks]
Interestingly there is literally no way to even view a screenshot of the service thanks to some handy user-agent redirection on the Real site which takes all Mac users to the New RealPlayer 10 for Mac OS X page that has existed for quite a bit longer than just today. There is no mention within the PR that this is Windows only, though I did admittedly know that the previous version was as well.
By now you may have noticed that asterisk next to anyone from the release… it refers to US only customers… no mention of platform dependance anywhere.
The only subscription music service I current utilize is Sirius radio. I don’t want to be renting my music, though I would be interested in more complete samples pre-purchase…. paying a flat rate for the privilege does not cut it.