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Strategies & Market Trends : Rande Is . . . HOME -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cindy B. who wrote (57263)	11/26/2005 11:57:15 PM
From: Rande Is	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 57584

Hi, Cindy. Long time. . . I hope you have been well. I subscribe to Rhapsody (Real Networks) and use it in teaching songwriting and music production classes at a university. For under 10 bucks per month (automatically deducted from your credit card), you can download any of about 3.5 million songs and listen to them in buffered real time. I believe this to be CD quality (16 bit / 44.1kHz), as opposed to inferior MP3 quality, offered by some others. I have tunes pouring straight out of my office PC into a B&K amp and into a set of JBL monitors. If you still cannot find particular songs or artists you want using Rhapsody, check out Yahoo Music Engine. Subscriptions are about $80 per year. It is just about as good as Rhapsody, though I have had difficulty with their beta software. I have not tried Napster's new pay service, nor do I know anything about it. I doubt I will. . . a carry over from their blatant attacks on the income of fellow composers, songwriters and the rest of the music industry. As I understand it, all of the above are available to PC users. If you are a Mac user, you are bound to Apple's own website, iTunes. . . their software, etc. . . which is common to Mac users. Don't know about MusicNet. You can opt to record any of the music you download to your own custom built CD for about $.75 to $.90 cents per song. The real value here is that you can listen to the whole song (or album) as often as you want. Then, should you decide you want to burn a CD for your car, etc., you may make a critical decision before committing to your purchase. If the whole album isn't great, don't buy it. . . just buy what you like. I send songs I really like to my special playlist. This way, when I am ready to burn a CD, I have a list from which to select a mix CD, if that is what I want. Anyone doing music research, or desiring to hear all the songs of a particular artist, or are looking for some new artists to love. . . I will guarantee that you will love these new song search engines. The ten bucks a month is extremely well spent. Every time I go song browsing, I find either a song or artist that impresses me to the point of wanting to hear more. I especially enjoy searching a particular song and pulling up all available versions by various artists. Another thing that is especially great is setting an elderly person down in the room and asking them about their old favorite songs or singers. Since most of these were on albums long since lost in attics, there is a good chance they have not heard the song in decades. They start naming tunes faster than you can search them and play them. Then their eyes light up like it is Christmas and you see them drifting back in time. I unknowingly played my mom and dad's "song". The one they always danced to. Restoring such a fond memory for your mom. . . What is that worth? I was even able to locate obscure classical works for my close friend (who is 86 years of age and a composer). He was so happy to hear these works. . . .like having a music library within your PC. I also like that I can pinpoint a particular musical genre and locate every artist within that style. As a music educator, it is an invaluable tool. I am amazed so few adults know about it. Sony is throwing their hat into the ring, and I would not be surprised if the record industry tries to buy out all suppliers. This is certainly the future. Subscriptions to services supplying every movie ever made are not that far down the road. Hope that helps, Rande Is