# Online Streaming Services



## Polednice

I was just wondering if anyone here _pays_ for a subscription to a streaming service, because I was considering a subscription to the Naxos music library. Usually, when I'm at home, I just use Spotify for free because I know how to avoid the ads, but, because of its technology, I'm not allowed to use it while at university 

So, can anybody recommend a service worth paying for, or a free one as good as Spotify? (Note: I hate last.fm )


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## Weston

I pay for Rhapsody. They have many of the Naxos collection and a lot of other stuff as well. Not always the top tier performances though. I do not really know if this service is international as copyrights differ from country to country - I never looked. In the US this service costs about $14 per month - which is what? About £6?

The good thing about Rhapsody is the variety. The bad thing is their hideous search engine.

I like to play a game by keying in classical sounding partial names to pull up composers and performers at random I might never have heard of. If I were to key in "Smith" or "Jones" I wouldn't get the results I'm after - but when I key in "Claud%," "Hein%,"or "%vich" then it gets fun. Rhapsody has since made its search engine even worse so this game doesn't work as well as it used to. [Yes - I know this is cultural profiling.]


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## Krummhorn

I too had used Rhapsody for about three years. Afaik, it is not available outside the US ... not even in Canada from what I found out. 

It was an okay application ... at least until their last "upgrade", then things started to deteriorate and I dropped the service. 

Naxos looks nice from the outside, but the monthly fee ($25 USD) could be a stretch for some.


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## Polednice

The Naxos price does seem a bit high, though they do appear to have the best catalogue with all kinds of labels, and I'd only need it for a month until I get home...


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## qualityaudio

I have been a Rhapsody subscriber since their inception and have virtually stopped buying CD's ever since. Their business model suits my needs perfectly. It's rare that I can't find _some_ recording of a piece of music if not a definitive performance of it, even with the changes they made recently to their search features. Rhapsody staff have been very responsive to a thread I started on their user's forum complaining about it and they have promised that changes are forthcoming as a result. As far as international availability, if Rhapsody doesn't allow streaming yet in the UK, they do sell MP3's there and allow access to 30 second samples.


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## Romantic Geek

Polednice said:


> The Naxos price does seem a bit high, though they do appear to have the best catalogue with all kinds of labels, and I'd only need it for a month until I get home...


You don't have a VPN with your university? I'm able to access Naxos with my school ID via VPN to access the databases.


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## Weston

qualityaudio said:


> . . . Rhapsody staff have been very responsive to a thread I started on their user's forum complaining about it and they have promised that changes are forthcoming as a result.


I hope so.

Rhapsody has a user forum? I would have been complaining a long time ago myself if I had known. Used to be you could only sort alphabetically or by popularity, neither of which is useful to me. Now there's barely any need to sort at all as _nothing_ comes up in search anyway.


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## Polednice

Romantic Geek said:


> You don't have a VPN with your university? I'm able to access Naxos with my school ID via VPN to access the databases.


Because of the limit on simultaneous subscribers, the university only allows music students to access their Naxos subscription. Grr! However, I've recently been badgering the faculty into letting me have their password because I'm studying _some_ music, and I think they're just about to give way!


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## qualityaudio

Weston said:


> I hope so.
> 
> Rhapsody has a user forum? I would have been complaining a long time ago myself if I had known. Used to be you could only sort alphabetically or by popularity, neither of which is useful to me. Now there's barely any need to sort at all as _nothing_ comes up in search anyway.


You can find the forum here:

http://getsatisfaction.com/rhapsody

There are several threads regarding the search features of the Rhapsody client. Actually, the new search features aren't all that bad, once you get used to it. This thread has details about using it. My only complaint about their changes is that it takes more mouse clicks than before, but my bigger complaint is the quality of the results. Their staff are at least paying lip service to our pleas for improvement.


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## tchiky

*Re: free streaming*

Hi
try this free streaming channel
can find related artists
www.tv243.com


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## David58117

I'm considering the Naxos Music Library subscription at $150usd for a year. Something about having access to the whole naxos library sounds great,,,but then I've never paid for a subscription service before and I would hate to be tied down to the computer. 

Spotify was mentioned before - does it offer streaming of whole CDs? I'm mainly just interested in Classical.


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## qualityaudio

The advantage of the Naxos subscription is that you have access to the entire catalog, and it includes liner notes, libretti, etc. They also seem to have a well designed search engine. The disadvantage is that the music is streaming only which means you must use a computer that is connected to the Internet. They also stream at "near CD quality" of 64K, but you can get "CD quality" at 128K for a premium. IMO 128 is _not_ CD quality.

Rhapsody allows you to download music either to compatible portable players, or to your computer for offline listening. In addition to at least a massive selection of Naxos titles (if not the entire catalog), they offer selections from many other labels, classical and other genres. Their software also includes a UPNP server allowing you to listen to music throughout your home using Sonos or similar appliances. They also stream at 128K for the same price as the basic Naxos subscription.


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