Stream on

December 9, 2005

For the last few months, I've been looking enviously at the celestial jukebox services Rhapsody, Napster 2.0 and Yahoo Music Unlimited. Unfortunately, the services are all tied to Windows. This week, Rhapsody introduced a web-based version of its service that works on Mac OS and Linux, freeing the service from its Windows-only client.

The web service is nice, but awkward. Compared to iTunes, Rhapsody's web page is awkward to use and borders on confusing. Creating and managing playlists could be much easier. Discovering music using the web interface is not so easy. Some applications still do work better as applications than as web sites. After trying the free version of the service, it just doesn't seem worth paying for to use only through the web site.

Radio Indie Pop, from the brains behind Luna Lounge, has seen some nice upgrades recently. In addition to new Alt-Country, Ramones, and Featured Favorite Unsigned Artist channels, listeners can choose between 7 different channels of indie rock, with a different mood for each day of the week.

After registering at Audioscrobbler in early 2003, I never used the service (which keeps track of one's music listening.) Since then, Audioscrobbler became part of last.fm, which is a fantastic streaming radio service and music recommendation engine. It selects songs based on one's listening habits and streams new music based on prior listening. While it lacks the on-demand streaming of Rhapsody, last.fm's free streaming radio far outstrips Rhapsody's free radio service, which is limited to 25 channels and does not allow users to skip tracks.