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:
- Rhapsody web services that allow sites to pull song, album and artist feeds
- Sale of unrestricted MP3s from the website
- Integration of Rhapsody into TiVo
- The option so search song lyrics in the Rhapsody Web Portal
- The instant playlist feature
- Nice personalization integration with the MyRhapsody page
Here’s his summary paragraph: “Though still short of perfection, the latest Rhapsody clearly ranks as today’s top music-subscription service, edging out Napster in both features (especially personalization features) and design. I frequently find myself looking up song lyrics, watching music videos I didn’t know existed, and streaming music from whatever PC I’m currently using. If you can spare the price of a CD per month, you’ll rhapsodize over Rhapsody.”
