YeaH, i like the point about satelite radio. I was gonna buy sirius but knowing that you’re paying the same for what YOU want, i just might use zune pass.

Hey,
I agree with what you say about not owning the music, but paying to be able to listen to it. I feel the same way.
However, if you get Tunebite ($20 and up) you can strip the DRM of the Zune Pass songs, therefore allowing you to own the Zune Pass songs!

“Allofmp3.com? The best of all worlds (if you can ignore the whole legality problem”

Not overlooking the legality is sort of the point, isn’t it? But I’m not here to judge. I’m just dropping by to comment that I was just reaching the end of my Urge free trial when KCT posted this bit, and I decided to go ahead and subscribe. Having a subscription really drives much different behavior than shopping at the iTunes store. I’m like a kid, a full cookie jar, and mom’s not home! This is great (as I listen to “The Big Chill Movie Soundtrack”…)

I’ve put in about 400 dollars over the last couple years and now have a huge library of music that’s MINE to KEEP and at a quality that I can actually listen to! You actually get bonus money the more you spend. It’s based on a running total of how much you’ve put in, over 50 dollars gets you 1 pecent extra on new top-ups, over $100 gets you 2 percent, and so on upto over $500 which gets you 20 percent extra (top up by 25 dollars and get 5 dollars extra which is enough for another two albums in low bitrate or another full album in lossless).

I highly recommend them. There was a bit of trouble working out how to pay since I’m in the UK and they don’t accept credit cards directly. I had to register with Click&Buy (a site run by British Telecom), then register with Xrost, which I can buy vouchers from using the Click&Buy system, which I can then use to top up Allofmp3. Sounds overly complicated, but once you get it up and running the first time its fast and easy to top up after that. The best part is only Click&Buy has my credit card details, who I can trust so there is no risk of fraud.

>>>Just recently they added music by Goblin — a 70s Italian horror soundtrack band! I’ve been looking for their stuff for years.

Is the Internet fekkin great or what?

I’ve been using Yahoo Music for over a year…and I love it. Just got a T-mobile Dash, so now I can transfer subscription music to my phone and I love it even more.

What’s cool is that I’ve discovered so much new music. I’ll hear a musician on the radio, or from a friend, and more often then not, it’s available via Yahoo. The person who said that popular music isn’t available isn’t using Yahoo Music — haven’t had a problem there. And every month they’re adding more and more of the obscure stuff. Just recently they added music by Goblin — a 70s Italian horror soundtrack band! I’ve been looking for their stuff for years. Whoda thunk?

As for purchases, subscribers get about 20% off, so most CDs are $7.99 or less. If you find you buy a lot of CDs, you could subscribe and listen to tons of music, only buying the stuff you really like. Best of both worlds…

Since I don’t own a Zune, I have been trying Urge. This time of year, I spend a lot of time at the office with the computer. I have really enjoyed downloading lots of differentalbums from a wide variety of artists. Maybe it’s not a good solution for your long-term music collection, but for $10 I’m getting my money’s worth.

I buy because none of the subscription services and few of the pay-to-download services have the music I want. In addition, I do notice a difference in sound quality in the car between a 128kbit AAC / WMV and a real CD, especially in the bass.

Also, the music I listen to comes in mixes, and mixes are difficult from the perspective of digital distribution. Either you supply tracks and your player inserts pauses between them to open up the next track, or you supply one file and you can’t skip forward / back by track.

When I have used iTunes, I’ve discovered I tend to pick from what they have, not what I really want, and end up disappointed more often than not. When I spend more per CD, I’m more discriminating and am often much happier. The loss of immediacy is actually good for me.

So, heck with digital distribution. I’ll stick with buying CDs.

I’ve had Napster+XM for over a year now and love it. I don’t understand why you would want to buy songs at .99 cents a piece – at that rate, buying the same amount I’ve downloaded, I’d be bankrupt by now!

What I’d really like is a smartphone with awesome battery life, 3G data and Flash support, aka portable Pandora player.

I really like the subscription model as well. I’m currently on Urge but I have tried out Yahoo, Napster, and Rhapsody before Urge came out.
There have been bumps and bruises especially with relicensing tracks, but it seems to be a lot less painful now.

i use napster for 9.99 a month. i’m guessing zune has drm files that don’t allow you to transfer to cd’s. on napster i can transfer them to cd’s.

And, because I’ve copied them onto computer, I can listen to them any way I want.

I have over 300 albums and CDs that I’ve bought in the last 35 years that I still listen to on a regular basis. In fact the older ones are far better than anything I’ve heard that’s been released for a long while.

I won’t even begin to add up how much I would have paid in subscription fees over thirty five years! A lot more than these albums have cost me (especially as I usually wait until they’re reduced in price).