Rhapsody Delivers Streaming Music Nirvana
Features such as blogging and playlist browsing set the Rhapsody service (and its player software) ahead of the competition.

SERVICE

Price

Selection¹

Sound Quality

Free trial period

Extra features

Musicmatch On Demand

$9.95 per month²

Over 800,000 songs

Good

7 days

E-mail your playlists to anyone; Music Discovery Engine makes good guesses about music you'll like.

Napster

$9.95 per month

Over 700,000 songs

Fair

7 days

Peek into other members' playlists or share your own; see what other members are playing in real time; communicate via message boards.

Rhapsody

$9.95 per month³

Over 800,000 songs

Good

14 days

Blog your playlists and comment on others'; Share your playlist or browse and listen to others' playlists; e-mail your playlists to anyone.

Virgin Digital

$7.99 per month

Over 1,000,000 songs

Good

14 days

Stream most of the library or download protected files; some songs are download-only and cost a dollar each beyond subscription fees.

Footnotes: ¹The stated size of the music library is provided by the vendor and could not be independently verified. ²The service costs $9.95 per month if billed monthly; $8.95 if you pay in 3-month, $26.85 blocks; and $7.95 per month if you pay for 12 months at once ($95.40 total). ³$8.32 per month if you pay in 3-month, $24.95 blocks.