HeiBräu

To me, the service you choose to listen to music on a mobile device comes entirely down to two things – selection of music and streaming quality. I’ve been concerned lately that Rhapsody can do better in both areas, so I’m switching to Rdio come January 1st. Rdio neatly rolls in the social aspect of sharing one’s music with others – like so many other well-examined decisions in one’s life, mine in this case is because my friends are all doing it.

Time will yet tell whether some innate weakness in their fine print prevents them from providing a share of music that I demand, and I abandon their banner and return to Rhapsody. But it’s had its own shortcomings. The list of my earmarked albums unavailable on Rhapsody is long indeed.

Spotify enters the conversation on intrigue alone, having recently come over from Europe where it’s been immensely popular. It’s free, so I’ll continue to examine it.

While all three have less-than preferable streaming bitrates (and Rdio is even elusive about the actual breakdown of their variable bitrate when streaming), all three bring something to the table that the monolithic iTunes platform has yet to offer – unlimited music listening at the monthy cost of about one record.

The number of great streaming services signals the end of an era in one clear way: for the avid listener, a streaming service must accompany the purchase of records by traditional means. The luxury of sampling and deciding for oneself what’s worth owning is simply too valuable to dismiss.

Which service do you use?

~ by HeiBräu on 11/11/2011.

Posted in Commentary