Educate me on subscription music

I've heard a lot of negative comments on subscription music, but I'm confused about the process. To me, it sounds like a good deal to be able to listen whatever music you can think of instead of buying it and possibly never listening to it again.

Help me out with the downsides, if any, and personal opinions and experiences.

Thanks.

Well I buy all my songs through itunes, but on my seton hall laptop they gave us ruckus, which is subscription music that the school pays for us to have. When I buy a song on iTunes on my mac.. it works when ever i want it to and is mine forever.. on ruckus every month, it needs to re activate every song you have before you can listen to it again, and you can not put it on an ipod or burn it to a cd, and once i graduate from seton hall, or transfer to a new school, or seton hall decides the music program is no longer worth it, all our music is no longer existent and we can not listen to it any more, same with you if you decide you don't want the service any more.

Downsides:
-Won't work with iPod
-When you stop paying, you are left with nothing.
-Some music not available

Upside:
-Great for finding new music
-Reasonably priced
-Won't tie you down to a specific company

i give it a big negative! its basically renting music..

kodorsean said:

i give it a big negative! its basically renting music..

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Yeah same here bad idea!

kodorsean said:

i give it a big negative! its basically renting music..

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Is there anyway of "saving" the music, there has to be a way I would think...

I would think there would be a way but i have no idea how to do it.. and even if it could be done I would bet its illegal. and if its not illegal i would bet it would be against the terms of service.

Music subscriptions are really a matter of what it is you want.

For those that can afford to buy all the CD's or just individual songs you really like and the radio is a good enough filler around your collection, a music subscription probably doesn't make much sense.

For those with a very broad taste in music,or maybe enjoys listening to music from the past 50 - 70 years, or just like to be able to listen to what you want when you want it while at home,a music subscription can make a lot of sense.

In my younger days had a collection that peaked out at over 5,400 albums when I sold it. Spent some time as a dj, so didn't have to pay for all of them, but still had plenty invested, and took years to compile. My guess is all but maybe 15-20% of those albums (or individual songs) can be found on the subscription sites today. At $20 a month for instant access to 10-15,000 albums, it will take you 50 years to pay off 25% of the money I had in that collection.

Of course that was in the days before iPods and mp3 players that you can take with you anywhere. In those days the audiophiles used reel-to-reel tape and recorded our own cassettes for portable use. I personally feel the subscriptions are well worth it for what you get from them, and then only have to buy the songs you are wanting to take with you where a radio just won't suffice.

Just one old timers O.
And yes there are ways to do it, albeit illegal and/or against TOS.

They are great for some people, not such a good idea for others.

ste6168 said:

Is there anyway of "saving" the music, there has to be a way I would think...

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Sure, record it to a tape, or a digital file if you have the right software, and then convert back to the format of your choice.

That being said, I dislike the whole concept of "renting" music., but if you read the fine print on a CD, you don't really "own" that music either.

I'm one who likes a wide variety of music, so I'm thinking this might be better for me. Plus, the whole ownership thing doesn't appeal to me any more. For example, I have 200 DVD's I never watch any more, about 100 books I never read any more, and a couple thousand mp3 songs that I probably listen to about 20-30% of even rarely.

Maybe odd, but a combination of the two might be best; by paying to sample whatever I want and purchasing what I really like. Kind of like a digital camera where you can take tons of pics and only print the pics that come out good. The rental end may make the whole thing cost more, but in the end there would be less wasted money on music I don't like; which is why I'm always hesitant of purchasing music to begin with.

I know Ipod can't be used with subscription, but there are tons of other players that can, right? What kind of music is not available; like most popular or non-mainstream stuff? I heard some rumors flying around that Jobs was considering a subscription plan, but I don't see that happening. He'd really be stepping on himself after everything he's said against it. In the end, music is entertainment, just like movies and TV shows, and they very successful in renting.

Use iTunes for godsake!

fleurya said:

I'm one who likes a wide variety of music, so I'm thinking this might be better for me. Plus, the whole ownership thing doesn't appeal to me any more. For example, I have 200 DVD's I never watch any more, about 100 books I never read any more, and a couple thousand mp3 songs that I probably listen to about 20-30% of even rarely.

Maybe odd, but a combination of the two might be best; by paying to sample whatever I want and purchasing what I really like. Kind of like a digital camera where you can take tons of pics and only print the pics that come out good. The rental end may make the whole thing cost more, but in the end there would be less wasted money on music I don't like; which is why I'm always hesitant of purchasing music to begin with.

I know Ipod can't be used with subscription, but there are tons of other players that can, right? What kind of music is not available; like most popular or non-mainstream stuff? I heard some rumors flying around that Jobs was considering a subscription plan, but I don't see that happening. He'd really be stepping on himself after everything he's said against it. In the end, music is entertainment, just like movies and TV shows, and they very successful in renting.

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I like the idea of renting the music to decide what you like then buying the songs you really like. Let me know if you find any subscription services for mac, because I don't like the one on my SHU laptop.

I just recently found out that my school also pays for ruckus, like someone else mentioned earlier, and I use that to DL music and then use tunebite to convert them for ipod. may not or may not be legal but it works well for me, although it must be done on a wintel box.

Well, more than anything I suppose I'm tired of being restricted to iTunes. It's a great program, but I like my freedom to choose players/portable devices. Plus, I am most disappointed in my experience with video from iTunes. I bought some TV episodes (actually, an entire season of a certain show I like) and was very unhappy to find that I couldn't put the shows on a DVD to watch on my own TV. (no, I do not want to hook up my computer to my TV)

I can't believe anyone would even buy them or movies from iTunes when for a few bucks more they can have them on DVD and still put them on their computer if they want to. Plus, DVD's come with many extras not available through iTunes and the audio/video quality is beyond better.

Anyway, that last part is more of a rant from recent frustrations.

I have been using a Zune lately. If you have a machine that runs Windows, its worth a look.

I'm thinking of it, but it's a bit too bulky and I think a Zune upgrade will make it much better. I do like WMP 11; it is a big improvement from past versions. I like to switch over to my Windows partition when the look of brushed metal finally gets on my last nerve. I so wish I could change the appearance of OSX; at least a little.

fleurya said:

I'm thinking of it, but it's a bit too bulky and I think a Zune upgrade will make it much better. I do like WMP 11; it is a big improvement from past versions. I like to switch over to my Windows partition when the look of brushed metal finally gets on my last nerve. I so wish I could change the appearance of OSX; at least a little.

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:cough: shapeshifter :cough: