Rhapsody vs iTunes: A Rebuttal

February 17, 2008

Chris Pirillo prefers Rhapsody over iTunes. Music subscriptions (Rhapsody) would be a waste of money for me and are not a viable solution at all. Here’s 10 reasons why:

I barely spend $15 every 6 months on music, let alone every month.
I listen to great podsafe music and I buy the music I _love_ (Gospel & Jazz). If it’s not something I will listen to 20 times in a row without getting a headache, it’s not worth having. I rarely take suggestions from IRC on what to listen to. Something like that never turns out well for me. Way different tastes.
I prefer DRM free music but I do have a few tracks I bought from iTunes store which work fine with our iPhones, iPod nano, Apple TV and Windows boxes via iTunes or other mp3 player. With Airtunes, I can play music in my office and have it play through my computer speakers, my surround sound system in the living room, and my laptop in the bedroom. I usually strip the DRM shortly after buying.
In the car, I don’t listen to XM anymore as it’s become as repetitive and crappy as over the air radio so I just burn my own playlists (of which I can easily manage in iTunes due to clean id tags) Smart playlists ftw.
30 second clips are more than enough, and I don’t need to stream. If I don’t like a 30 second segment of a song, then I don’t believe I should buy it or listen to it. Songs that have a “good part” and a “bad part” are bad songs. Period.
I choose not to depend on one company for my music sources. While I depend mostly on Apple products to play my content, I have the choice of Amazon MP3, iTunes store, and music CDs to buy music that I can keep forever.
Music subscriptions is renting. I’d rather have a “lifetime lease”, if you will. While I really don’t own the music, I can play the copy I bought until the end of time, or oxygen.. take your pick. I don’t need to pay a landlord for my music and succumb to their will at their discretion. I want control.
Rhapsody (and other music subscription services) stinks like stale blue cheese on a dead duck. I prefer managing my own music stank you very much, with or without an internet connection.
Music subscription DRM is a slippery slope. What’s preventing companies such as Rhapsody/Real from embedding audio ads in streaming content? What if their servers go down? Go out of business? When I own the copy of the music I bought, it’s going to stay that way unless I choose otherwise.
I can listen to the same 10 songs for 3 months straight because I really love the music. Why would I give someone $180 a year for permission to listen to all the songs I want, when I can have all the songs I want for $50 a year? Easy decision.

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Is Chris Pirillo wrong? Of course not. We both consume music in different ways. My situation dictates I do not even bother with subscriptions while he feels he would save money over a la’ carte. I use my iPhone/iPod, he doesn’t. He doesn’t burn music CDs, he listens to XM. He’s willing to give up control of the music he consumes to a third party, and I simply can’t do that. Different strokes for different folks. While you may argue MP3 (and its licenses/restrictions) is a form of control, OGG Vorbis isn’t. I have an exit strategy because…

I ultimately have control.