I haven’t found a good posting or info from Real on all the different versions of Rhapsody and what they do so I thought I’d dig-in and try to explain. Each version of Rhapsody has a different set of entitlements in terms of what you can listen to. The more you pay in subscription fees, the more you can do with the music. Here are the basics:
1) www.Rhapsody.com – this is the web based version of Rhapsody Music Service and the newest edition to the family. This is really a different way to get music vs new or different entitlements. At Rhapsody.com, you can check out all the editorial content on bands that is included in the Rhapsody database, however you must download and install a very small active X program that lets you play music over the internet. You must also register in order to get music. With a free registration, you have access to 25 radio stations and 25 free song plays per month (this means that you can listen to the same song 25 times or 25 different songs once). If you sign-up for Rhapsody Unlimited, you can listen to all of the songs you want online for only $9.99 per month – this is the version I have an love it.
2) Rhapsody Radio – this is a slimmed down version of Rhapsody that is sold through internet service providers ($4.95 per month). I first discovered this at SpeakEasy.net which is my home and office ISP. It was included with SpeakEasy and go me hooked on Rhapsody. Don’t think you can buy this anywhere online anymore.
3) Rhapsody Music Jukebox (also known as Rhapsody 25). This is the full Rhapsody Software that lets you manage all of the music on your machine (Rhapsody based, downloaded and ripped from CDs) plus gives you playlist sharing, CD burning, 25 radio stations and 25 free streams per month. It has a lot more features than just using Rhapsody.com.
4) Rhapsody Unlimited. This is what I use for $9.99 per month an it is totally worth it! – it’s the full software (see above) plus unlimited streams per month, over 100 radio stations (including build your own radio stations), discounted music downloads ($.89 vs $.99), listen to music offline even though I haven’t paid for it (there is a trick to this – see the Rhapsody Tricks section of this blog). Rhapsoy has changed my musical life for many reasons.
5) Rhapsody To Go. This is Rhapsody Unlimited PLUS the ability to transfer music from Rhapsody to a portable MP3 player that runs the Microsoft platform – it does NOT work with iPods (which I have and love) but hopefully it will one day. This is $14.99 per month. If I ever change players to something that is non-ipod (doubt it) I’ll look into.