Bbspot Reviews The New Music Sites

[DudeAsInCool]

BBShop Reviews: Digital Music Stores

By Brian Briggs

December 22 2003. Reviewing digital music stores is like reviewing a movie in production. During the few weeks I have worked on this review Musicmatch overhauled their music store pages and corrected a bug, Apple corrected an annoying "feature" of their jukebox, and Wal Mart opened their own music store. As companies compete for market share you can expect rapid changes from each of these services to stay competitive. New competitors such as Amazon and Microsoft would change the landscape even more. It should only be good news for music buyers.

I didn't start out this process with a desire to review all the music services, but as a desire to have a "legal" music collection. I found myself jumping from service to service to see what was offered, and found that there wasn't one met all my needs, but some were closer than others.

A few general notes about each service. All the songs that you buy have various licenses attached to it, and are in a protected format except for EMusic. Expecting the RIAA-backed services to give you unprotected files in the format you want is a bit unreasonable. I am aware the protection and the licenses can be easily violated, but that is not my desire nor the purpose of this review.

I used each of the services and bought music or subscribed to the service from each of them. Some of the services include digital music jukeboxes, which will be covered, but not the emphasis of the reviews. If you are looking for something to only play MP3s and nothing else then this is not your review. Also, all these service were tested on a Windows XP system with a broadband Internet connection. Not all choices are available on other operating systems. Services are only available to people in the US. We just can’t trust people in other countries yet.

Availability of songs that you want is probably the most important issue, but one that cannot be reviewed. I have listed the songs I bought from each service. Please, no comments about my musical tastes. There were several songs I looked for on each service that none of the services had. Most of them were songs fromsoundtracks. They were:

Only Napster and EMusic carried Ana Ng by They Might Be Giants.

Musicmatch and Wal Mart did not have songs from Green Day or Tenacious D. Wal Mart also only had edited versions of songs with explicit lyrics.

What follows are reviews of each individual service including screenshots from each. Since each of us has different listening habits and tastes, I answer the questions like "How much does it cost?" and "Who would want this service?"

Next: iTunes

What does iTunes offer?

ITunes from Apple is a jukebox and music store. Free internet radio stations are available through the program as well.

How much does it cost?

ITunes sells songs for $.99 per song and albums for $9.95 though album pricing varies.

What rights do I have with the songs?

The songs you buy you can burn to a CD, transfer to an iPod and listen to on up to three computers.

What about selection?

Apple claims to have over 400,000 songs in their library. Of the artists I searched for iTunes had all of them except the ones that were not available on any service.

File Type: Songs are available as AAC encoded files ripped at 128 k.

Problems encountered: Behavior of maximize window fixed during review with latest release (4.2). Renamed all music files without telling me that was what it was doing. Still aggressive about claiming default status for music files despite choice available in setup.

What I did?

I bought five songs for $.99 each from the ITMS.

Songs bought from ITMS:

Semisonic – Closing Time

Third Eye Blind – Semi-charmed Life

The Cure – Pictures of You

Pearl Jam – Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town

Coldplay – Yellow

General observations: Excellent jukebox program and music store. Itunes has the best search abilities. Other services make you choose whether you are searching for artist, track or album, iTunes does not. Celebrity playlists was an interesting way to find new music. Store is nicely integrated into the jukebox program. Was able to rip a couple problem CDs that Musicmatch had trouble with, though did not give me many choices on how to name the files. Radio stations are worth what they cost, nothing. Loaded up ituneshelper.exe and ipodservice.exe at start up even though I do not have an iPod. Apple has marketing dollars and is the current leader in digital music, so expect many exclusive deals and tracks with iTunes. For example, The Return of the King soundtrack is available only on ITMS.

Who would choose iTunes?

IPod owners. People who want just a place to buy music and not care about streaming. Someone who wants to set an allowance each month for their kids (or for yourself).

Who does not want to use iTunes?

Someone who wants a player to listen to their .wma files. Someone with a digital music player other than an iPod. Someone who wants streaming music.

Store Location: Within the iTunes jukebox program which can be found at Apple's website.

Reviews: Digital Music Stores: Napster 2.0

By Brian Briggs

iTunes Music Store - Napster - Musicmatch - Rhapsody - Wal Mart - BuyMusic - EMusic

What does Napster offer?

This is one of the issues with Napster. They offer the most variety of choices, which makes it the most confusing service to understand and explain. Napster sells music downloads for $.99 per song or $9.95 per album though album pricing varies. Napster also has a premium service for $10 per month. The premium service gives you access to stream their programmed radio stations, build your own radio stations from artists you select, download songs to your computer, access to their message boards, and their online music magazine. You are also able to look at other Napster users playlists to see what other people are listening to or to find new music.

What is the deal with downloading songs?

The most confusing part of the service is downloading songs. What this means is that you can download the songs to your computer and listen to them at your leisure. However, when you cancel your subscription to Napster then the licenses to those songs will expire. In addition, not every song in the Napster library is available for download. Some are only available for buy, so you only get a 30-second preview of the song. It also appeared that some songs were only available for download, but not for purchase.

How much does it cost?

Napster costs $.99 per song and $9.95 for albums though album pricing varies. The premium service costs $10 per month.

What rights do I have with the songs?

The songs you buy (not download) you can burn to a CD, transfer to a wma player and listen to on up to three computers.

What about selection?

Napster has over 500,000 songs in their library.

File Type: Songs bought from Napster were available as protected .wma files ripped at 128 k.

What I did?

I subscribed to the Premium service and received five free song purchases. I bought the five songs with my credit. I also downloaded over a hundred songs to listen to on my computer. I listened to the streaming stations.

Songs bought from Napster:

Anthrax and Public Enemy – Bring the Noise

Sinead O’Conner – Mandinka

The Wallflowers – One Headlight

Tears for Fears – Break It Down

Wang Chung – Dance Hall Days

General observations: Napster is available as a stand-alone program, or as a plug-in to Windows Media Player. I used both, but would suggest either using the WMP plug-in for advanced jukebox functionality and skinnable interface, or the stand-alone version with Musicmatch as your jukebox. Napster has gift cards available. Downloading tracks was a good way to check out new music. You can buy songs without being part of the Premium Service. Does not show songs on a search that are not available on the service.

Problems encountered: Needed to contact customer support to get my five free songs.

Who would choose Napster Premium Service?

Napster is a good program for finding new music by using the radio stations or by searching other people’s playlists. Someone who wants to jumpstart their music collection by using the download feature.

Who does not want to use Napster Premium Service?

Someone with a limited budget who wants to buy music. Someone who only wants to buy music. Someone who does not like Windows Media Player. Someone who wants higher quality songs. Someone who wants to find songs that are not on the service.

Store Location: Through Napster's stand-alone program or as a premium service on Windows Media player. Stand-alone program available here.

Musicmatch

By Brian Briggs

What does Musicmatch offer?

Musicmatch has three different choices. It is a powerful jukebox program. It has a subscription based streaming service. It has a music store.

How much does it cost?

Musicmatch sells songs $.99 per song and albums for $9.95 though album pricing varies. The premium radio service costs $4.95 or $2.95 per month. Radio service subscription is not needed to buy music.

What is the difference between their streaming services?

The $2.95 per month service allows you to listen to one of the 44 preprogrammed, 18 genres and 200 subgenres, music by decade or year since the 60s stations. In addition, you can build your own stations based on artists you choose. The $4.95 service gives you Artist Match, which gives you the ability to select an artist and only listen to songs from that artist or group of artists that you choose. Artist match is a cheaper, but less convenient way than Napster downloads to preview complete songs.

What rights do I have with the songs?

The songs you buy you can burn to a CD, transfer to a wma player and listen to on up to three computers.

What about selection?

Musicmatch claims to have over 250,000 songs in their library. Of the artists I searched for Musicmatch did not have purchasable songs from Green Day or Tenacious D, but they were available to listen to on their radio stations.

File Type: Purchased songs are available as .wma files ripped at 160k. Album cover art is provided as .jpg files.

What I did?

I bought the Musicmatch Jukebox Plus program for $19.95 and received five free songs to buy, although it is not necessary to buy the Jukebox Plus to purchase songs. I also received a free song for opening a Musicmatch Downloads account. I subscribed to the Platinum Version of the Musicmatch Radio MX service.

Songs bought from MusicMatch:

Barenaked Ladies – If I Had a Million Dollars (live)

Ben Folds Five – Army

Poe – Walk the Walk

Counting Crows – Big Yellow Taxi

Rusted Root – Send Me On My Way

Blues Traveler - Hook

General observations: Musicmatch has the most powerful jukebox program out of the bunch with the most options. I have used Musicmatch for a long time, but during this review I discovered many features that I did not know that it had. The supertagging and Auto DJ features are awesome. Dowloading of songs also includes high-quality CD cover art. The latest version allows for tagging of protected wma files, which was previously impossible. The music store underwent a face-lift during the review but still needs some work. It went from looking like something just tacked onto the jukebox program to something that resembles a store. The radio stations are excellent quality and have a good selection of songs. When listening to songs on the radio service you have the ability to buy the songs (if available) or add them to your wish list. The music store offers thirty-second previews of the songs. Musicmatch shows all the songs by the artists not just the songs available for purchase. Good at recommending based on your music library. Can hog system resources. Radio stations a good way to discover new music. Interface is skinnable.

Problems encountered: A few issues with window locations when using different skins, default skin did not have any problems. Trouble ripping a few dirty and scratched CDs.

Who would choose Musicmatch?

With its many choices of streaming or downloading, Musicmatch could be a complete music solution. Someone with a limited budget that still wants the option for streaming. Someone who only wants one music program on their computer.

Who does not want to use Musicmatch?

Someone who wants the widest selection of songs available. Someone who likes small, dedicated programs for each step of the music experience (buying, listening, ripping, burning).

Store Locations: Available in Muscmatch's Jukebox program available at their website.

Rhapsody

By Brian Briggs

What does Rhapsody offer?

Rhapsody is the music offering from Real. It gives you the ability to stream songs from 15,748 artists, which includes 422,196 tracks. You can build your own radio stations by selecting artists, or listen to one of the 71 programmed stations. You can burn songs to a CD.

How much does it cost?

Rhapsody costs $10 per month and $0.79 for each song burned to CD. Unlike the other services, you do have to be subscribed to buy songs. There is not a choice for buying albums for one price, but you can burn each song from an album individually.

What about selection?

Over 400,000 songs give it a comparable selection to the other stores.

What I did?

I subscribed to the service using the 14-day free trial. I bought 10 songs and burned them to a CD without any problems. The songs I bought were:

Songs bought from Rhapsody:

50 Cent – In da Club

Eminem – Without Me

Dr. Dre – Forgot about Dre

Nick Drake – Fly

Nick Drake – Pink Moon

Paul Simon – Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

Stone Roses – Love Spreads

Sublime – What I Got

The Jayhawks – Blue

The Wallflowers – 6th Avenue Heartache

General observations: Rhapsody requires you to use their music player. This is not a music jukebox and only works with their service, so if you want to listen to your own MP3s you will need another program. Selection of artists and radio stations was good. Streaming quality was excellent. No skins available for the player, so I hope you will like how it looks. Since music is streaming you need a good Internet connection to use it. Also, not a useful service if you are off-line often. Gives you the ability to see songs that are not available on the service. The player is limited in options and functionality that gives it a small footprint, but also not as useful or configurable.Problems encountered: None.

Who would choose Rhapsody?

Someone who likes streaming music instead of buying it, and does not have an MP3 collection to listen to. They currently have a 14-day free trial, during which you can burn songs. If you know what songs you would like to buy then buying them during the trial period is a cheap way to do it.

Who would not want to choose Rhapsody?

Someone with a slow Internet connection. Someone who just wants to buy music and not worried about streaming. Someone who only wants to stick with one music program since Rhapsody is not a jukebox program.

Store Location: Songs can be purchased through Rhapsody's stand-alone music program available here

WallMart

What does Wal Mart offer?

Wal Mart offers songs for purchase from their website.

How much does it cost?

Wal Mart sells songs for $.88 per song and albums for $9.44 though album pricing varies.

What rights do I have with the songs?

The songs you buy you can burn to a CD, transfer to a wma player and listen to on up to three computers. Wal Mart’s license was more restrictive than the other services because it said it only allowed 10 burns to a CD while the others just limit the playlists not the songs.

What about selection?

The selection at Wal Mart was the worst out of any of the services tested. Like Musicmatch, it did not carry any songs from Green Day or Tenacious D. In addition, it only offers edited versions of songs that contain explicit lyrics.

File Type: Songs are protected .wma files ripped at 128k.

What I did?

I bought one song for $.88.

Songs bought from Wal Mart:

Sheryl Crow – Soak Up the Sun

General observations: The Wal Mart store is the only one reviewed that does not require the downloading of any extra software. However, unlike the wma files from Napster and Musicmatch they would only play on Windows Media Player. Trying to play them on Musicmatch crashed the program. Store felt much like a Wal Mart brick-and-mortar store with songs difficult to find and not arranged nicely. Thirty-second previews of songs are available. Searches did not show songs not available on the service.

Problems encountered: None.

Who would choose Wal Mart?

Someone who does not want to download extra software. Someone looking for the cheapest songs.

Who does not want to use Wal Mart?

Someone who wants a wide selection. Someone who wants unedited songs. Someone who wants to find new music. Someone who wants a streaming service or radio stations.

Store Location: Walmart.com

BuyMusic

By Brian Briggs

What does BuyMusic offer?

Buymusic.com sell songs through their website.

How much does it cost?

Songs range from $.79 to $1.14 each. Album pricing varies starting at $7.95. No subscription required.

What rights do I have with the songs?

Rights for each song vary, and range from near-unlimited to very few rights.

What about selection?

Buymusic claims to have over 327,000 songs in their library. Of the artists I searched for Buymusic did not have purchasable songs from Green Day.

Files Types Available: Songs downloaded were protected .wma files ripped at 128k.

What I did?

I downloaded two songs from the service prices and rights listed below.

Songs bought from BuyMusic:

Barenaked Ladies – Who Needs Sleep $.99

“With this download you have permission to: download to 1 computer and transfer to 2 additional computers, transfer to an unlimited number of portable devices, and make 3 cd burns.”

Coldplay – Clocks $1.09

“ With this download you have permission to: download to 1 computer, transfer to 3 portable devices, and make 3 cd burns.”

General observations: The different rights you are given vary by song which makes it very confusing to keep licenses straight. Has an integrated Windows Media Player for listening to sample tracks. BuyMusic has cheaper albums and singles than some of the other services. Required the download of a helper application to download the songs. The wma songs downloaded could be played on Musicmatch and Windows Media Player. Searches did not show songs not available on the service.

Problems encountered: When I started downloading the songs, a dialog box popped-up requesting that I download an .exe program. This was a bit disconcerting, but it was just a helper application for downloading the songs. Also, the site only works with Internet Explorer.

Who would choose BuyMusic?

Someone looking for a chance to buy cheaper songs than the other services. Someone who just wants to purchase music from a website and not through a player.

Who does not want to use BuyMusic?

Someone who wants one price for all their songs. Someone who wants the same rights for all their songs. Someone who doesn’t want to use Internet Explorer. Someone who wants streaming audio or radio stations.

EMusic

By Brian Briggs

What does eMusic offer?

Emusic offers music for download for a monthly fee.

How much does it cost?

EMusic Basic - 40 Song Downloads per month for $9.99 per month

EMusic Plus - 65 Song Downloads per month for $14.99 per month

EMusic Premium - 90 Song Downloads per month for $19.99 per month

What rights do I have with the songs?

Unlimited burns and transfers. Listen on any computer you want.

What about selection?

EMusic claims to have over 250,000 songs in their library from independent labels.

File Type: Songs downloaded are unprotected mp3 files ripped at various rates. Songs I downloaded were at 184k, 196k and 216k.

What I did?

I signed up for the free two-week trial of EMusic Basic service which gives you the chance to download fifty MP3s. Installed the EMusic download helper program.

Songs downloaded from EMusic:

They Might Be Giants – Ana Ng (live)

Violent Femmes – Blister in the Sun (live)

Violent Femmes – Add It Up (live)

Violent Femmes – Gone Daddy Gone (live)

Violent Femmes – Kiss Off (live)

Bush – Machinehead

Bush – Everything Zen

Bush – Little Things

Green Day – Welcome to Paradise

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Down on the Corner

Van Morrison – Brown Eyed Girl

Charlie Daniels Band – Devil Went Down to Georgia (live)

Dashboard Confessional – Hands Down

Wall of Voodoo - Mexican Radio

Information Society - What's on Your Mind? (Pure Energy)

General observations: Excellent service for downloading music from independent artists. Only service that allows you to download songs in unprotected MP3 format. Downloading songs requires the use of a download helper program. Searches do not show songs not available on the service. There were many more songs that I wanted to download than I thought would be available. Definitely worth a try of the free trial service to see if it's worth it to you, or to at least grab some MP3s that you want.

Problems encountered: None.

Who would choose EMusic?

Someone whose musical taste includes a lot of independent artists. Someone who want to download MP3 files instead of protected files. Someone who wants songs ripped at a higher rate. Someone who wants to listen to the files on Linux.

Who does not want to use EMusic?

Someone who does not want a monthly subscription fee. Someone who wants the same rights for all their songs. Someone who wants streaming audio or radio stations. Someone who only listens to mainstream artists.

Store Location: EMusic.com

Final Thoughts

By Brian Briggs

Final Observations

It was difficult to compare these programs head-to-head because each offers different music services. Each has its strengths and its quirks. One of the biggest issues would be the availability of the songs that you want, which is something I cannot review. Three of the services changed while I was doing this review, so I expect even more in the near future.

Additionally, if you have a digital music player like an iPod or a Dell DJ then that would certainly influence your choice

What will I choose?

Rhapsody does not meet my music listening needs, so I will be removing it from my computer. I like that Wal Mart has broken the 99 cent price floor, but the editing of songs is something I cannot abide by, so I will not be buying songs from Wal Mart. I like the Napster Premium Service, but my music budget does not allow for $10 a month in subscription services, and money for buying songs. I’ll download my fifty songs from EMusic if I can find that many, but my tastes are more mainstream, so I will not continue the subscription. I will keep Musicmatch as my default music program and streaming service and search the iTunes Music Store and the Napster Music store for songs that I can’t find on Musicmatch. Unless, of course, I get an iPod for Christmas.

The Perfect Service

I think the perfect music program would have the selection, allowance feature and store design of iTunes, the abilities to download songs and playlist searching of Napster, the price of Wal Mart or BuyMusic's cheap tracks, the powerful jukebox, tagging features, and streaming service of Musicmatch, the file format and rights of EMusic, all fit into the program size of Rhapsody. As quickly as these programs are updating, maybe we’ll get there some day.

Suggestions for your Digital Music Budget

With $5 a month to spend on music I would subscribe to the $2.95, Musicmatch streaming service and spend the $2 on other songs at any store for purchase.

With $10 a month to spend on music I would subscribe to the $2.95, Musicmatch streaming service and spend the $7 on other songs at any store for purchase. Or, EMusic Basic if it fits your musical tastes better.

With $15 a month, I would spend $4.95 a month for the Musicmatch streaming service and $10 a month purchasing songs either through EMusic or the other stores.

With $20 a month, I would subscribe to the Napster Premium service and buy $10/month in songs but still use Musicmatch as a jukebox. Or, sign up for EMusic Basic, MusicMatch Platinum and spend $5 at the other stores.

[HolyMoly]

One of the biggest issues would be the availability of the songs that you want, which is something I cannot review.

... and that's probably why I'll stick with P2P and only go to pay services for short-term romps, if at all.

[DudeAsInCool]

Here's another interesting analysis. From my quick scan, the one interesting point is this: if consumers can access what the want economical and when they want it--streaming may end up being the wave of the future.

Online music's winners and losers

Special to CNET News.com

December 27, 2003 6:00AM PT

Since May 2003, when Apple Computer's online music service iTunes opened its digital doors, the drums announcing other online music services--new enterprises as well as existing music services spruced up and recharged--have been steadily beating.

MusicMatch. BuyMusic. Rhapsody. Listen.com. Emusic.com. MusicNet.com. A new Napster, legitimized by Roxio, a vendor of multimedia programs. Wal-Mart. Even, it has been said, Microsoft and Virgin Entertainment Group.

Indications are strong that the companies behind the services have reason to think that profits can be made in online music. iTunes sold 20 million tracks in its first seven months of operation. Rhapsody's 250,000 subscribers paid to listen to 28 million songs in October, up from 11 million in June. Between June and November, music lovers bought 7.7 million songs online, but only 4 million single-song CDs at stores.

The future looks good, too. Jupiter Research expects online music sales to grow to $3.3 billion by 2008. Forrester Research expects that within four years online music will account for 33 percent of the music industry's sales. But behind the vaunted successes and the optimistic predictions lurk at least two big questions: Which online music vendors, among the nearly one dozen operating today, have found the business model that will guarantee they will be around in 2008 to share the profits? Can the for-fee services make a dent in the billions of musical tracks exchanged, at no cost, on pirate networks?

The online music business models now being used include:

• The a la carte approach, favored by the likes of iTunes. Customers can buy individual tracks for 79 cents to $1.20 or albums for $9.99 and up, and buy as few or as many tracks as they want. They can--after downloading music to their hard drives--burn it to CDs, copy it to portable music players or, if they have the right equipment, stream it around the house by way of their existing entertainment centers.

• The subscription model. Customers pay a monthly fee and then download a specified number of songs each month. For $9.99 a month, emusic lets its customers download 40 songs and use them in whatever way the buyers want. For $14.99, customers get 65 songs.

• The streaming model, such as the one used by RealNetworks' Rhapsody. Music lovers pay a monthly fee, then listen to as many songs a month as they can stand. Downloading is extra, usually under a dollar a track.

And the winner is

To some extent, all the models could fly. Larry Kenswil, president of eLabs, the media and technology division of Universal Music Group, suggests that music, like movies, should be able to thrive in a wide variety of channels: "People can watch a movie (at a theater), or on video, or on a pay-per-view channel. They have a dozen ways."

Some experts are betting that the ranks of the online music vendors will thin out. Some experts, though, are betting that the ranks of the online music vendors will thin out because technology, consumer preferences and costs will conspire to create a dominant business model. Wharton marketing professor Peter S. Fader says all the signs point to the eventual emergence of streaming as that model.

For the moment, though, the models based on selling tracks and albums will predominate because that is how most people have learned to obtain music online, Fader notes. Perhaps more important, downloaded music is portable. It can be burned to a CD for listening in the car. It can be put on an MP3 player for listening while jogging or flying. But, in the end, downloading is burdensome, Fader suggests. "Obtaining the songs is a nuisance. It's a pain to download them, to organize them, to back them up."

And when you come down to it, Fader adds, people really don't care much about having physical ownership of their music. What they really care about is having access to the music they like, when and where they want it.

Given that preference, financial and technological advantages will help the streaming model win out, Fader says. For downloading services, the margin of profit is usually too thin. The download services pay music labels around 79 cents per track in royalties. Another 5 cents or more per track goes to credit card companies to cover transaction costs. Add in operating costs and the 99 cents or so in per-track revenue does not leave much room for profit.

By contrast, the streaming services pay the music industry less in copyright fees--as little as 1 cent or less each time a song is played--because the ownership of songs that are streamed but not downloaded does not pass to consumers. Perhaps more important, rapidly changing technology--including the spread of satellite radio, the development of phones that double as portable jukeboxes and the advent of MP3 players capable of receiving streamed music--will increasingly give consumers their music on demand while freeing them from downloads and all the attendant hassles, Fader says.

In fact, he adds, the future is already here. In November, RealNetworks and cable provider Comcast struck a deal under which Rhapsody's streams will be offered to Comcast's broadband Internet service subscribers. "Just imagine when Rhapsody is available as a Comcast add-on, bundled into your bill. It is an incredibly efficient distribution network for Rhapsody," states Fader. "Streaming will win. It always (does)."

The lure of ownership

Not everyone, however, agrees. Apple's Steve Jobs recently told Rolling Stone magazine that music ownership is an ingrained habit, one that will always prevail: "People don't want to buy their music as a subscription. They bought 45s, then they bought LPs, they bought cassettes, they bought 8-tracks, then they bought CDs. They're going to want to buy downloads." Jobs, of course, is the mind behind iTunes and so could be somewhat partisan. But he may have a point because even with music it is important to remember that people--especially Americans--like to own things.

Apple's Steve Jobs recently told Rolling Stone magazine that music ownership is an ingrained habit, one that will always prevail. Moreover, the streaming model has inherent risks. Subscribers live with the possibility that their provider may go out of business, leaving them with nothing to show for months of subscription fees. The same is true for music lovers on a limited budget or those who have a limited tolerance for hikes in subscription fees. If, for financial reasons, these consumers are forced to end their music service, they are then permanently divorced from their music.

Even if personal finances don't come into the reckoning, this consideration exists, at least for now: Just about each of the online music services--whether it offers streamed or downloaded tracks--has glaring gaps in the genres of music that don't fit the top-40 mold, namely Latin music, gospel, jazz and classical, among other forms.

Music lovers who have eclectic tastes and who stick with downloads can flit from download site to download site to fulfill their varied tastes in music, one track or one album at a time. Consumers who buy into the streaming model and pay a monthly or annual fee are stuck with what their service offers them--or face paying additional fees at other sites that offer music their service does not.

Still, online music services that depend solely on selling downloadable tracks and albums may be bucking a marketing reality. The conviction that consumers will want to buy music for downloads depends a great deal on the notion that many people own large hard drives and portable MP3 players they would just love to fill with music.

Some experts think that is wishful thinking. Says Phil Leigh, an analyst who runs his own Tampa, Fla., firm, Inside Digital Media: "A 40GB iPod holds 10,000 songs. How many people will spend $10,000 to fill it up?" The fact that many people won't is one of the reasons Leigh thinks that the right business model for hawking music over the Internet is a hybrid that incorporates both streaming and downloading.

Leigh says his own experiences highlight the advantages of the hybrid model. "I recently had a weekend guest who loves Norah Jones. With a celestial jukebox such as Rhapsody, she could play all the Norah Jones she wanted while she was here. If I had wanted to satisfy my guest's appetite for Jones on iTunes I would have had to pay $10 to $20 for the tracks and I would have had no use for them after my guest left. But I also discovered Judy Garland on Rhapsody and then wound up burning three of her songs from 'Meet Me in St. Louis.'"

The debate over business models ignores, in the eyes of some experts, other important steps that online services will have to take if they are to survive and thrive. One of those steps will involve figuring out how to bring customers back, said Mike McGuire, media research director at Gartner/G2. "It's the same problem the Samarian grain dealer faced 4,000 years ago. How do I get that guy to come in and buy my grain again next year?" Some sites try to bring in repeat business by having their staff recommend their own favorite songs. "Give me a break," McGuire says. "Who cares?"

The better approach, one that will most likely have to be part of a successful business model, is to create a sense of community among buyers or subscribers--not unlike the sense of community the original Napster as well as Kazaa and Morpheus have created among their users, McGuire says.

Within a music service's community, buyers would suggest songs to each other, exchange ideas about the music they buy and perhaps even offer each other snatches of songs. It is an approach with which Rhapsody and the new, legitimate Napster are already experimenting. Rhapsody allows subscribers who also have Web logs, or blogs, to place a link to Rhapsody songs on their sites. When other Rhapsody members access the blog, they can read the bloggers' comments about the song and, if intrigued, use the blog link, which Rhapsody calls a Rhaplink, to hear the music themselves.

"Napster allows its subscribers to share playlists," says McGuire. "So if I like Stanley Clarke's 'School Days,' I can click on a link and see what other people have the song and what their collections look like. If I find that some guy in Arkansas has Clarke I can look at his list and check it out"--and, of course, listen to samples of that music to expand his horizons.

The big unknown lurking behind any discussion of successful online music business models is whether any model can truly prosper as long as pirating networks continue to operate successfully on the Internet. New pirating networks crop up continually, including an increasingly popular one based in the Jenin Palestinian refugee camp. Kazaa, which replaced the old Napster when Napster came under legal fire, can boast that its file-sharing software has been downloaded more than 250 million times. All in all, according to some estimates, pirated-network users exchange some 5 billion tracks a day--a number that dwarfs iTunes' sales of 20 million tracks in six months.

But Leigh from Inside Digital Media, McGuire from Gartner/G2 and Fader are optimistic that, in time, the legitimate music sites will push back the tide of piracy and turn freeloaders into paying customers. "It is a misconception that (for-fee services) can't compete with free networks," Leigh said. "You and I can get free Internet access, but we don't do it because we don't want to put up with the limitations of free service."

Ultimately the limitations of pirate networks are significant. Songs obtained through them are often truncated, either at the beginning or at the end, because they were inexpertly transferred from a CD, tape or vinyl record to the hard drive by the person offering it up for copying. Despite the inroads cable and digital subscriber line (DSL) modems are making into homes, the vast majority of private computers are still on conventional phone modems. Even if the sending computer's modem doesn't hang up in mid-transfer, downloading any more than a handful of songs through a 56L modem is a frustratingly long experience.

Perhaps more important, an increasing number of pirate network devotees are finding that while downloading music, especially through Kazaa, they are also downloading malicious code--perhaps a virus that destroys their data, a worm that uses their computer to launch itself to hundreds of other PCs, a Trojan horse that uses their machine to spawn spam, or spyware that subjects them to marketing pitches and interferes with the efficiency of their PCs.

Increasingly, the thinking goes, even teenagers will grow weary of the hassles and gratefully turn to paid services. Says McGuire: "You can compete (with the pirates) by offering music in a convenient way, providing reliable quality and making sure that (buyers) can manipulate it as they like within legal limits."

Fader puts it simply: "I was a big downloader of Kazaa, but when I tried Rhapsody, I felt I was a free man."

[HolyMoly]

• The streaming model, such as the one used by RealNetworks' Rhapsody. Music lovers pay a monthly fee, then listen to as many songs a month as they can stand.

... and record them as WAV files while listening to them with TotalRecorder ...

Downloading is extra, usually under a dollar a track.

... making downloading unneccesary. BTW, the article's author fails to mention that Rhapsody restricts downloads. There are some files slated for "listen only." I discovered that my last time around when they announced the entire Rolling Stones collection was available online. It was ... but some of the older singles were unavailable for downloading by customers. I'll let you guess how many of those songs I got anyway (grin).

Fader puts it simply: "I was a big downloader of Kazaa, but when I tried Rhapsody, I felt I was a free man."

I was with Rhapsody not once but twice ... and both times, I felt as though I was in a box. The box had a little bit more in it the second time around but it was still a box. Until content-for-pay equals the selection from content-for-free providers, it will always be lacking ... and as big as the selection might become, still be a box.