All-you-can-eat music
Download all the music you want for the price of a single CD
By John Shaw
By nature, I'd rather buy than rent. That's true for my home, my car, and most of my other stuff. But when it comes to digital music, I've changed my tune.
Instead of paying about a dollar every time I want to download a new song from an online store, I pay about $15 a month to download as many songs as I want. I can play them on my computer and sync them to my portable music player. It's like someone gave me the keys to my favorite record store and let me run amok.
Freedom of choice
With a subscription account from an online music store, I can listen to any song I want, as much as I want, whenever I want, on a number of different devices, and I don't have to worry because I know how much it's going to cost me at the end of the month.
If I'm curious about a song or album that someone told me about, I can listen to it immediately—either by playing a stream directly from the store or by downloading the song or album to my computer. Being able to listen to the entire song or album is so much more satisfying than playing the 30 second sample clips that online stores typically offer you if you don't have a subscription account. Now, I can download full-length songs whenever I read an interesting album review in a magazine, hear an artist interviewed on the radio, or when I'm considering buying tickets to a concert.
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| Downloading songs from the Napster subscription service in Windows Media Player |
If I don't like what I've downloaded to my PC, I can delete it without a hint of buyer's remorse. Because my cost is fixed, I have the freedom to explore all sorts of music that I wouldn't typically take the chance to buy.
Most subscription services let you access their services from multiple computers. How many computers you can use varies by subscription service and whether you are playing a stream or downloading a song to your computer. My service lets me download songs to three computers and to stream from an unlimited number of computers.
Music on the go
The particular service that I use lets me sync my rented songs to my portable music player so I can enjoy my tunes wherever I happen to be—at the gym, on the bus, in the car, or on a plane. It's a great way to get more value out of my music subscription service because I don't have to be sitting at my PC to enjoy the music it offers.
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| Synchronizing music to a device in Windows Media Player |
For more information, see Set up a device to sync in Windows Media Player.
Tunes throughout the home
When I'm at home, I'm usually in the kitchen or relaxing on the couch. For times like these, I pick up my remote control and access my music subscription service through my Windows Media Center PC. This computer sits unobtrusively in my entertainment center. It's hooked up to my TV and some great-sounding speakers.
From across the room or when I'm in the kitchen, I can play anything that the subscription service offers. And when friends stop by, I can hand them the remote control and let them queue up the songs they'd like to play. For more information about music options in Windows Media Center (a feature of Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate), see Browse, stream, and download digital media from Online Media in Windows Media Center.
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| Listening to the Napster subscription service in Windows Media Center |
There are other ways to enjoy subscription services when you're not sitting in front of your PC. For example, you could use the media sharing feature of Windows Media Player to stream your rented songs to an Xbox 360 or other compatible digital media receiver so you can listen to music throughout your home. For more information about media sharing (a feature in most editions of Windows Vista except Windows Vista Starter), see Sharing media on a network using Windows Media Player.
What's the catch?
As you might suspect, music subscription services come with a few strings attached.
| • | You can't burn your rented songs to an audio CD. |
| • | If you cancel your subscription, you can't play any of the songs you were renting. |
| • | To sync rented songs to a portable music player, you need a device that is compatible with the service (not all MP3 players can play rented songs) and you may need to upgrade to a premium account type (most services call these "To Go" accounts). |
| • | In some cases, not every song in a store's catalog can be rented. Some songs might only be available for purchase. |
| • | Some services require you to install and use their own jukebox software. This can be mildly annoying if you like your current jukebox program and you don't want to have to use a different program to browse your subscription service, download songs, or sync songs to a portable device. |
The only one that's limiting for me is burning a CD. But even that's not a deal breaker. If I want to burn songs to a CD for some reason, I'll either purchase the individual songs from my online store or I'll buy the physical CD someplace else and rip it.
Which stores offer subscriptions?
Currently, there are just a handful of online stores that rent music in the United States. All of the stores below offer at least two kinds of subscription accounts: an inexpensive "basic" plan that lets you play (and sometimes download) songs and a more expensive "To Go" plan that also lets you sync songs to certain portable music players. These stores also allow you to purchase songs à la carte if you want.
The music selection in these stores is pretty similar. However, one store might have a particular song or artist that another doesn't. Also, some stores have unique features, such as recommended playlists, radio stations, reviews, and so on. Most stores offer some kind of free trial subscription. I recommend trying each one to see which works best for you. Here are the music subscription services that I've used.
Napster
This is the music subscription service that I currently use. I like the Napster service because it doesn't force me to use its jukebox software if I don't want to. I can access the Napster store from within Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center. And because I have the premium "Napster To Go" subscription account type, I can also sync rented songs to my portable music player.
Napster recently unveiled an option that lets me play any song in its catalog from a web browser. That's handy when I'm using someone else's computer and I don't want to clutter their PC with a bunch of additional software.
To start using Napster in Windows Media Player, click the arrow below the Online Stores tab (this tab appears on the far right side of the Player and the name changes depending on what store is currently active), and then click Browse all Online Stores. Click Napster, and then follow the on-screen instructions to install the Napster plug-in and to create a Napster account.
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| Browse all Online Stores command in Windows Media Player |
Zune Marketplace
Contrary to conventional wisdom, you don't have to have own a Zune device to enjoy Zune Marketplace. You can purchase or rent songs without one. However, if you want to sync Zune Marketplace songs to a portable music player, that device must be a Zune.
Now that there is a wider selection of Zune models (including smaller and lighter devices) and better support for podcasts, Zune and Zune Marketplace are looking more attractive to me. For more information, go to the Zune
website.
Yahoo! Music Unlimited
I used this service quite a bit when it was first introduced. It had some nice features, but I didn't like being forced to use the Yahoo! Music Engine jukebox software.
Currently, Yahoo! Music Unlimited has one of the most inexpensive "basic" subscription plans (an account type that does not permit you to sync songs to a portable music player). If you're looking to keep your monthly costs low and you don't need to sync songs to a device, this option is worth a look.
Keep in mind, though, that Yahoo! Music Unlimited won't be around for much longer. In February 2008, the company announced that it would phase out the service and give its customers the opportunity to migrate their music catalogs to the Rhapsody subscription service.
Rhapsody Unlimited
I haven't had the chance to use this service much, but it has many admirers. Like Zune Marketplace and Yahoo! Music Unlimited, you're required to install the company's own jukebox software to download songs and sync them to a portable music player. As with Napster, you can play Rhapsody songs directly from a web browser if you want.
Coda
Like a cable TV subscription, a music subscription service isn't for everyone. If you're content listening to the music you've already got or you typically spend only a few dollars per month on music purchases, a music subscription might not be a good value for you. Likewise, if you really prefer to own all of the music you listen to or you have a portable music player that is not capable of playing rented songs, a subscription service might leave you unsatisfied.
However, I've used music subscription services for nearly four years and I'm hooked. I still buy a physical CD now and then, but a good portion of what I listen to on a daily basis is stuff that I'm renting through my online store. It's really changed the way that I discover and enjoy music.
About the author
John Shaw is a writer on the Windows team at Microsoft, specializing in Windows Media Player and other multimedia programs. Before joining the company in 2000, he worked as a writer and editor for a number of technology, business, and medical publications. In 2006, he and his colleagues won the Society for Technical Communication’s International Online Communication Competition for their work on the Windows Media Workshops.
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Burn
To copy files to a recordable CD.
Synchronization
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Synchronization
In Windows Media Player, the process of maintaining digital media files on a portable device based on the rules in a partnership or actions specified by the user. This may require copying digital media files from a computer to a device, updating information on the device, or deleting files from the device.
Rip
To copy digital media content from an audio CD. Content may be converted to a different format during the ripping process.
Streaming
A method of delivering digital media across a network in a continuous flow. The digital media is played by client software as it is received. Typically, streaming makes it unnecessary for users to download a file before playing it.
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