Our European friends got some interesting music news this month in the form of OD2's SonicSelector, a plug-in to Windows Media Player that lets users stream any track they want from a library of about 350,000 tunes. Doesn't sound too impressive, right? Especially when Apple ITunes launched in Europe the day after. Well, here's the interesting part: Each song you play costs you just a penny.

In the United States (and also in Europe, apparently), streaming services tend to be a subscription-only proposition. Pay Napster or Rhapsody $10 a month, and you've got access to its entire collection from your PC. Most streaming services cost around $10 a month for a subscription, and I know plenty of people who love their Rhapsody accounts.

Me, I'm a stickler for quality. I'm not that interested in listening to streamed music at 128 kilobits per second or less--no matter whether it costs $10 per month, or a penny per track--so my initial reaction to SonicSelector was a resounding yawn. More lousy streamed music, eh? Call me when it's CD quality.

But then I got to thinking: I'll pay a buck for an ITunes download occasionally. If that track were on OD2, that same dollar would let me hear the track 100 times. Have I ever actually listened to a song 100 times? I mean, really, how often do I actually play my favorite songs?

Hint: It's Not As Often As You'd Think

ITunes keeps a play count for each track in your library. The "Top 25 Most Played" Smart Playlist lists, well, you know what it lists. I took a look through mine after I started thinking about SonicSelector's pricing, and the highest play count I saw was 30, on Kathleen Edwards' cover of "Money Talks." And that one's pretty far above the rest. (There were a couple months when I thought Edward's cover was about to give sliced bread a run for its money.)

However, most of the songs I listen to frequently have a play count between 10 and 20. After that, there are a bunch of songs I've played 10 or 15 times. Double that to account for plays that ITunes doesn't see or count because I'm at another location or because I've hit FFWD before the song finishes. Double it again for spins done on my portable player or my home stereo. Even then, most songs come in well below 100. Compared to paying a buck a track for ITunes downloads, the SonicSelector approach looks like a good value.

Now, how does SonicSelector stack up against subscription services? In my case, I figure I've got some kind of music playing for at least a couple hours on an average day. If you assume that a typical song clocks in at 3 minutes, the math works out to about $12 per month. Since most subscription services clock in at $10 per month, I'd be better off with one--but the OD2 model would probably save money for most customers.

Streaming Services Get a Boost

SonicSelector looks like a decent idea, but I haven't heard of anyone who plans to try a similar model in the United States. Instead, our streaming services are about to get more interesting, thanks to some updates to Windows Media Player. Later this year, users of services like Napster and Rhapsody will be able to download as many tunes as they like to a supported portable player and listen to them as long as they subscribe.

Songs are transferred to portable devices as protected WMA files that are tagged with a date. When you play the track, the player checks that date against a secure clock to make sure you're still subscribed to the service. Neat.

Quick Hits

New Portables From Creative Labs and Sony: New hard drive MP3 players from heavyweights Creative and Sony are set to challenge the Apple IPod's status as the dominant portable player. Creative's 20GB Zen Touch player sports an interesting touch-sensitive control pad and a price under $300. I assume it still has the playlist interface that I like so much. Sony's NW-HD1 player has the Walkman name, and maybe not much else. It's tied to Sony's underwhelming Connect service for paid downloads, and uses the company's ATRAC audio compression format.

In Heavy Rotation

E. Dahl Recommends: M. Ward's Transfiguration of Vincent. Ward's a guy with classical guitar skills who plays some amazing, introspective tunes, including a haunting cover of David Bowie's "Let's Dance." Transfiguration is one of those brilliant albums like Jeff Buckley's Grace--it may not grab you the first few times through, but eventually you'll come to love it.

Another One That Grows on You: Speaking of bands I just didn't get the first time, if you like M. Ward, you'll probably dig The Dirty Three, an Australian instrumental band fronted by violin player and extremely-cool-name-have-er Warren Ellis, who weaves gripping melodies over the band's dark, electric songs.

Eric Dahl just moved his entire music collection, and boy, was it heavy. To comment or ask a question, send him an e-mail.