Napster, iTunes, Rhapsody, etc. which is better?

[gniknave]

I've been using Napster almost since the day it reopened as a pay site, but in between I've tried Rhapsody. I found that Rhapsody sometimes has music that Napster doesn't, and you can ALWAYS hear the whole song (as long as you're subscribed) as long as the song is available. The only thing with Rhapsody is that when you buy a track, it's not saved through Rhapsody like it's saved on Napster. I also hate the fact that Rhapsody uses Real Player which always glitches and freezes on my computer. Anyone else have that problem? With Napster, even though you're a subscriber you still come across songs that you can only hear 30 seconds of. That get's frustrating and sometimes defeats the whole purpose of subscribing.

But what about iTunes? I'm 99% sure somebody is getting me and iPod for Christmas and I don't see that it's compatible with Napster or Rhapsody as a plug-in device (they don't list it). I actually downloaded iTunes and fiddled around with it a bit but found it a little confusing compared to the other two I've mentioned. I didn't give it a real chance because I was trying to find out if they have a subscribing service like the others do, and when I couldn't find an answer to that question (I didn't try too hard) I just gave up.

So what do you guys & gals think is the best LEGAL music server?

[nametakennow]

iTunes rocks. It's actually very intuitive if you play with it a little bit.

There is no "subscription," per se. You buy songs or whole cds at 99 cents a song.

You should be able to use the software the comes with the iPod to get your music files onto it without Napster or Rhapsody.

Anyways, definitely play with iTunes some more. Also, let it organize your whole library for you, it'll make it all a LOT easier to sort through later.

[Cold_Zero]

I use iTunes and Napster. I prefer the interface of iTunes over Napster. There is a lot less clutter and it's not as busy. Here is my analysis of each service:1. Subscription Fee- iTunes does not charge a subscription fee for their service. You hear 30 seconds of the song and can buy most songs for $.99 each. Napster does have a pay service $9.95/month which allows the user to listen to everything in their library for the duration of the song. If you decide to buy the song, it will put you back $.99 each. Napster also has a lite version of their software that allows the user to listen to 30 seconds of each song and buy them if they choose. The lite version is free and there is not subscription fee. The only problem with Napster Lite is that it puts the user in pop-up hell.

2. File Formats- iTunes uses a file format that is proprietary to Macs, Ipods and the iTunes software program. Most of their music is protected and can not be burned to a CD. Pretty stupid since you pay money for the use of the song. Napster uses an MP3 file format which is universal. You can burn the music to a CD or upload it to an MP3 player. 3. Libraries- The iTunes library is very limited compared to the Napster library.

Lately, I have begun to use Napster in place of iTunes.

[BadMojo]

2. File Formats- iTunes uses a file format that is proprietary to Macs, Ipods and the iTunes software program. Most of their music is protected and can not be burned to a CD. Pretty stupid since you pay money for the use of the song. Napster uses an MP3 file format which is universal. You can burn the music to a CD or upload it to an MP3 player.

That's the big reason I don't use iTunes, except as a way to organize my existing music collection. The AAC format, from an audio standpoint, is fine. Unfortunately, as Cold Zero said, it's proprietary to Apple.

I don't download any music. I'm still converting my existing CD collection to MP3...have over a 1000 songs on my iPod and still not even half full.

[EnzoRWD]

Itunes + MyTunes/OurTunes + large network = teh best solution.

[StrangeLove]

pay for music? I'm confused

[StrangeLove]

My friend uses itunes and he likes it alot

[gniknave]

Ok, so which NON pay sites can you get music from these days? The last one I used was Kazaa, but I stopped when they started suing folks over it.

[Jesda]

Limewire. BitTorrent. But mostly friends.

[nametakennow]

Ares rocks my socks.

[stfuad]

2. File Formats- iTunes uses a file format that is proprietary to Macs, Ipods and the iTunes software program. Most of their music is protected and can not be burned to a CD. Pretty stupid since you pay money for the use of the song.

Can't burn to a CD... As far as I know when you buy songs from ITMS you can play the song on 3-5 computers, burn to CD, and copy to an ipod all you want. I haven't encountered a song that is immpossible to burn to cd.

Also AAC isn't proprietary to Macs.. It's also playable on PC's and Linux to an extent. You might mean exclusive to the iTunes application.

[wangless]

i use itunes for my ipod, havent used napster or any other shareware or whatever you call it in a while. i just rip cds

and im not sure what your asking about burning cds with itunes but i rip cds using itunes to mp3 format then burn them fine

[BadMojo]

Also AAC isn't proprietary to Macs.. It's also playable on PC's and Linux to an extent. You might mean exclusive to the iTunes application.

[/QUOTE]

As far as portable devices go, you can only play AAC on iPods, AFAIK. That kind of sucks. If I get rid of my 'Pod in a few years, I still want to be able to play all my music.

[GoinBoostYey]

I use Ares and WinMX.

[StrangeLove]

Kazaa still works, but they can only catch you if you upload a file to them. So just disable uploading, problem solved.

I use emule for most of my files though

[RBpoweredSileighty]

i get all my stuff from winmx good trans rates

[[Zero-S]]

If you aren't able to burn an aac file through windows, do it through *nix. Easy fix.

edit: On topic though, I use shareaza, which has gnutella, emule, and bittorent built in.