Rhapsody announced in October that the music service will be available to TiVO subscribers through their DVRs. This is like taking all of the 800 poorly programmed stations on channels 900 – 999 and replacing them with a library of 6,000,000+ full songs, 750,000+ albums, 100′s of good channels and playlists that you choose. This is great for both Rhapsody who gets the service in front of millions of TiVO owners and TiVO who adds a really great option to their DVR.

Here’s a screenshot of the TiVo menu with Rhapsody:. Notice how it is built seamlessly into the TiVo interface.
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I was looking at a buying guide in the Seattle P-I called “Make a Geek Smile” (I consider myself less of a geek, more of a connoisseur of fine technology) by Scott Taves and as an aside, he had this to say about Rhapsody when reviewing the iPod Touch.

“It’s a shame about touch’s relationship issues. Paired with an online music service like Rhapsody, we’d have near perfection. I started using Rhapsody’s To Go subscription ($14.99 per month, rhapsody.com) free several months ago as part of the review process for the iRiver Clix media player. When it came time for the complimentary period to end, I gladly shelled out for a paid subscription. It’s exceptionally easy to use and the music selection is vast. What I usually end up doing is looking for a specific song or album. With one click you can add it to your library where it’s a simple drag and drop to transfer it to any media player you’ve registered.
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Rick Broida of PC Magazine recently reviewed both Rhapsody and Napster and gave Rhapsody the nod for Editor’s Choice over Napster. While Rick has some user interface issues with both Rhapsody and Napster, he gives the nod to Rhapsody because of the availability of the Rhapsody catalog on Rhapsody.com music portal. He also likes the way Rhapsody has integrated music videos into the services. “Rhapsody trumps Napster also in the video department: The Music Videos page includes new releases, multiple spotlight artists, browsing by genre and artist, and keyword searches.”

Other things Rick liked about Rhapsody:
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I’m more excited than a princess dog at a pink sweater symposium! One of my all time favorite bands is finally going to release their full catalog to digital music services. No word from Rhapsody if this includes them (I hope it does!) but the mere thought of accessing Dazed and Confused while at work or digging through albums I haven’t listened to in forever or sampling live and/or rare stuff that I’ve never heard just gives me the willies.

The release is set to coincide with a one night only renuion show at the O2 in London in November and the release of a greatest hits album Mothership. Additionally, LZ has signed a deal with Verizon to sell ringtones. Can’t wait to have a meeting broken up by the opening riff of Whole Lotta Love. Sweet!

Even though it is cliche’ to say The Boss is Back, I’m going to write it anyhow. Oh, by the way – he’s brought the band with him and created the most rockin’ Bruce album in quite a while. More guitars, more saxophone, more bangin’ drums and keys. Me likey! Bruce’s voice is more seasoned (as if that was possible) but strong. The songwriting is tight and the melodies fierce. Some of the songs like Livin’ in the Future could be right off the River. The first single Radio Nowhere establishes the pace of the album and general disillusionment with everything. Some of the songs are a little downish, like Your Own Worst Enemy, slow up the mojo but it’s quickly overcome by the ehteral to grinding Gypsy Biker. Definitely one of Bruce’s best in a long time and worth a listen. Signup for a free trial of Rhapsody and listen to Magic and all of Bruce’s other albums for free.

I’ve just added a new page in the How To’s section that describes how to create and burn a custom CD with Rhapsody. When RealNetworks acquired Rhapsody 4 years ago, one of the things they were able to add to the Rhapsody client was a really nice CD burning technology that is available in the premium version of RealPlayer. The CD Burner in Rhapsody creates a really good sounding, well balanced CD that burns in a .CDA format which is the widely distributed version in standard CDs. Click here to read how to burn a custom CD with Rhapsody.

DRM (Digital Rights Management) free MP3s are the same sort of buy it/use it where you want type music files you get when you buy a CD. As long as you are using it for personal purposes, not re-selling or swapping in the peer to peer networks – they are totally legal eagle. Better yet, because they are in DRM free universal MP3 format – they play on ipods, Sandisks or any MP3 playing device without the need for re-coding – FREE AT LAST! This is hot on the heels of releases by both iTunes and Walmart for selling DRM files – however there are some big differences. The table above helps separate the wheat from the chaff on what’s what.

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A ton of small businesses like chiropractors, doctors, espresso stands, taverns and retail need music to create the atmosphere for the customers and keep the employees pumped up. To get the right music into your establishment you basically have six options:
1) You plug a tuner into your sound system and listen to the radio.
Pros: Free, options from various type of stations, variety of music
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Thanks to the partnership with Viacom, we’re seeing some new music channels that we’re digging. I’m loving the TGIF Blues channel – lots of fun classic blues like Albert King, The Kinsey Report, Lonnie Brooks and Ruth Brown. They even throw in some Cream and Blues Brothers – Yes! My wife is enjoying the VH1 – I Love the 80′s channel. She is re-living her party peak with tunes from The Smithereens, Talk Talk, Pet Shop Boys and Sinead O’Conner. There is also a CMT (country music television) channel, VH1 Classic (Jackson Browne, INXS, The Byrds). All nice adds to the channel guide at Rhapsody.com!

I met Luciano Pavarotti in Vienna in the fall of 1986. I was a college exchange student in the EIS program when Bob Funk and I went from major hotel to major hotel in the city looking for a bar that had cold beer and was showing American football on TV. We stumbled into the Sheraton which was just off the Karnterstrasse and while investigating how cold the beer was we noticed a large glassed in room on the far side of the lobby. In the glassed in room was a gleaming black Piano, a small pianist and a larger than life Pavarotti, warming up for a performance of La Boheme at the Vienna Opera House later that week. Being a couple of young knuckle heads – we finished our beers and walked over to get a closer look. Fortunately, we had a camera with us and when we caught his eye we showed him the camera and he nodded his head. We waited about 15 minutes for him to finish and was very kind to take a picture with us and chat a bit. He seemed much taller from far away but was only 5′ 9″ or so but big around! He told us that he was performing and that we should see the opera and experience the music in the historic Vienna Opera House. We thanked him and left. But there’s more.

We learned later that day that in the Vienna Opera House, the royal boxes had been turned into standing room only sections. By arriving at the Opera House early in the day and waiting in a line on the side of the building, you could buy a very inexpensive ticket (about $14 dollars back then), enter around 4pm, secure your spot in the standing room only area with a scarf or coat wrapped around the railings in the box area, go get dinner, then return in time to see the show. It was fantastic! We ended up seeing 5 operas while in Vienna during that semester and I’ve been a low budget fan ever since.
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