But besides the cost – there is one aspect of this that makes the iTunes a deal breaker for me and hence my can-I-runRhapsoy-on-Bootcam dilemma: as a crazy jaz fan, I am always on the digital equivalent of Cliff Huxtable’s trips to the used record store……in search of a certain jazz artist doing a particular song. When found just from browsing on Rhapsody or read about on the web, digging in Wikipedia for a movie songtrak credits, or heard about on NPR (who DO have a lot of free audio content) I can find it quickly and audition the ENTIRE CUT. Once, or maybe a few times. 30 seconds doesnt cut it in jazz: I need to hear the bridge before I decide to buy.

If I had iTunes I would have spent 50 bucks this month alone on songs that yes I would listen to again and again – but I didnt have to spend that.

On the Mac, I’ve been playing with iFill (shareware) and RadioRecorder (free). Both record streaming radio station audio. The streams are tagged by song title but since songs are usually crossfaded, you get a chopped up collection. It’s funny to hear one song crossfading into the next only to be cut by a different song. However, it’s close to perfect if you choose to only record from one station.

iFill and RadioRecorder support the iPod. Just don’t set the iPod to play randomly! So what I do is set iFill to record before I sleep and disconnect the iPod with “my” new 85+ songs in the morning.

Oh, the songs are not synced in iTunes, the songs are just saved in the iPod in their own playlist.

I’m sure there are similar applications for Windows. ;)

Except of course that the service is incompatible with the iPod.

There’s no question that iPod users are deprived of the subscription model right now, although it’s unclear how many of them actually care–yet. The idea of “renting” music seems way less desirable than “owning” it, I’m guessing mostly for emotional/irrational reasons, even though in the long run ANY serious music lover would save a ton of money overall with renting.

I for one don’t own an iPod and don’t intend to get one until either it works with Rhapsody/Napster/Yahoo/etc. (cold day in hell) or Apple offers its own subscription service (hmmm…).

Music formats and distribution is a hot topic and arguments can go on for quite some time without anyone “winning.”

Respect is the key here. As long as we enjoy our respective music applications for our respective discrimitating tastes, without forcing others to like what we like, then all would go well.

As far as iTunes, I’m a Windows user and I echo your sentiment that I don’t want to install any “extra apps” just to be able to use the iTunes music store. Heck, I can’t stand iTunes which makes the iTunes music store even less attractive. So while it MAY be true that iTunes is the best game in town right now, that’s not saying very much.

$.99/song is a good price for me because I buy at a per song basis. It’s the same price at Rhapsody right? Another plus factor for a Mac user like me… iTunes is already built in. I don’t want to install extra apps like the Rhapsody Player Engine to listen to music.

If you’re happy with Rhapsody, then good for you :)