Is The Rhapsody Radio Free iPhone App Worth It?
September 23, 2009 by Ryan Ray
Do you guys and gals remember the days when Real player was the norm for media playback on your computer? I’m only 22 and I do remember when I used Real player for all my media needs. Apple and Microsoft were quick to capitalize on the opportunity, and obviously since I love Apple I’m a big Quicktime fan. It really is the best out there at the moment. I supplement my Quicktime use with a plugin called Perian that everyone should use if you don’t. Also just in case I have VLC for backup, just incase the file won’t play right. None the less the Real player as we know it has all but died.
There is one scrap of Real left though in it’s service they call Rhapsody. If you don’t know what Rhapsody is then listen up. Rhapsody is a subscription based radio service that now let’s you access that subscription almost anywhere now. For me I LOVE to own my own music, I don’t feel alright with subscribing to music. I love to buy CD’s, there is something great about owning it. Although I’ve gone all digital now, the new iTunes LP is doing a pretty nice job of making up ground. With that said we’re going to talk about the free app w/ paid subscription called Rhapsody.
At the moment I’ve only got the app installed on my iPhone, but with a subscription you can have this service follow you wherever you are. On your computer, home audio system, and thankfully the iPhone too. Their website says there is around 8 million songs on their service, and if you want to tap into that you can get the service for $14.99. First though you can try the service out for free for a week. So what’s the verdict on this, worth it or not?
Here is the interface, we’re all very familiar with this layout. Good job to the UI designer to make everything look great, and feel like a native iPhone app. I’ve been on a Florence + the Machine kick as of late, and that was the first thing I searched for to see if they had. Luckily they had her newest album “Lungs.”
Here are her top tracks according to the service. I’ll agree that Dog Days Are Over is a great song, although I think my favorite right now is Drumming Song.
Here is what their search feature looks like. Since her name is so unique only one result came up, but if you put in something like Spoon I’m sure you’ll get a lot of results. Once you tap on the artist, the next screenshot is what comes up. You can see all albums, their top tracks as was showed earlier, plus other things. One thing worth mentioning is that it has a function similar to Pandora, you can pick an artist and have it play similar styles. Perhaps giving you a chance to delete your Pandora app, the less apps the better.
After reading some of the comments and other reviews, it seems that the people of the internet are split. Some love a subscription based music, others like me prefer to own their music. So far of all the apps it seems that Rhapsody is the cleanest and fastest way to rent your music. If you know of other services let me know what they are, and if they are better tell me as well. While you are at it check out the free trial of the Rhapsody app. As always thanks for reading.
Popularity: 11% [?]
Ranked #37 out of 205 posts (with 18.78 points) ?
Related Articles:
Hi Ryan – Thanks for the Rhapsody app love. Glad you liked it. Full disclosure – I work on both Rhapsody and RealPlayer. Have you tried RealPlayer since June? Not just a media player anymore. Actually lets you now download and convert videos onto your favorite device (iPhone, Apple TV, PSP, etc.) in two-clicks. Super simple and convenient for when you’re on that cross-country flight and want to show your new neighbor that “Ima let you finish…” bit.
If you try it out, would love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks for the comment Oona. It’s been soo long since I’ve used real player, but I’ll give it a shot in all fairness.
Thanks again!