I really love subscription music services too. I've discovered more great music in the years I've been using them than I ever had before. I even go so far as to have a few of them active at once and enjoy comparing library and feature differences between them.
In my experience the Android apps are very close to the iOS versions in functionality. Some apps will vary somewhat in appearance but the feature sets and quality are usually quite consistent. Every once in a while one version will get a particular neat new feature early, but they eventually equalize. Right now all the versions are pretty much 'in sync'.
I've even started a blog, http://cloudmusic.tumblr.com about these since I'm such a fan. I haven't really put out any reviews of each service yet, but am planning to in the near future now that most of them have stabilized.
Thanks for the great article!
If you use a subscription-based music service, you probably love it. You are also, like me, a member of one of the world’s smallest cults.
In economic terms, the proposition is an obvious bargain: A music service that allows you to listen to any track or album from a selection of 10 million or more, any time you want, for a low fixed monthly price? In theory, that should be irresistible (I used that exact wordin a 2008 post). And yet the music-loving public has basically snubbed services that offer this capability. I suspect the iTunes Store does more business on a slow day than most of these services do in a year.
Why haven’t subscription music services succeeded? What’s the likelihood that one will finally break out next year? Will Apple charge into this space and take it over?
In this post, which follows up on my earlier look at alternatives to the iTunes store, I look at the three biggest and most well-established subscription music services in the United States: Rhapsody, Napster, and Microsoft’s Zune Pass. (You’ll find details about each service on <the next page.)
At least one big name didn’t make it to my list: Spotify, which my friends in the UK swear by, is not included because it’s unavailable in the United States. I also left out two relatively new services that are still too new for me to do more than watch with interest: MOG and Rdio. I’ll make sure they’re on the list for the next installment.
(And before you ask: No, Pandora and similar services aren’t included here either. My definition of the category includes any service that allows subscribers to log in and play single tracks or complete albums from the service’s collection in a web browser or on a supported mobile device. Pandora allows you to influence but not pick your own playlist, and it sets limits on how many tracks you can skip.)
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Why haven’t subscription music services taken off? There are several huge hurdles for music consumers to get past. One, obviously, is financial: in this economy, people cringe at the thought of yet another monthly obligation, even if it is “just a few bucks.” Logistically, using a subscription music service involves technical hassles like downloading a custom app for mobile access, which adds just enough friction to discourage casual use. Conceptually, a lot of consumers have trouble understanding how the service works and how it differs from iTunes. (Reading through the customer support forums at Rhapsody was a particularly painful experience.)
But there’s one objection that trumps them all: None of the current crop of subscription services integrates smoothly with an iPod or iPhone. What good is an “unlimited” music subscription that doesn’t follow you outside the house?
With the Zune Pass, Microsoft is trying to route around the iOS hegemony by creating its own hardware ecosystem, with dismal results so far. Meanwhile, the other services have settled on a similar technology template: for listening on a PC or a Mac, a browser-based music catalog with a pop-out player; for mobile use, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android apps that allow you to stream from a mobile device and save tracks for offline play if the subscription level supports it.
The Rhapsody and Napster mobile apps work, but they keep your subscription tunes in one app, completely separate from the library containing music you own. That means there’s no way to create a playlist that mixes tunes from both locations. You have to switch apps.
