Finding a music download service
So, I've actually been going to the gym on a quasi-regular basis these days. While this is good for me, it's bad for my pocketbook (do people still say pocketbook?)... Not because of the price of the gym but because I'm getting tired of the music I have in MP3.
After my two previous MP3 players turned out to be not good, I've started using my phone (the audiovox version of the smartphone) as my mp3 player. So far so good. Now I'm through all of the more upbeat stuff I have to listen to and am starting to look for an audio service online... The couple that I have looked at so far are Musicmatch, iTunes and finally Napster. I'm in the midst of the Napster trial period at the moment because it seems like the best option for what I use the MP3s for - working out at the gym, listening on my home computer while I'm working or playing games, and finally, listening at work while I'm... well... working.
So far it seems pretty good but it is a little frustrating that not all of the music in their catalog is available for free to download, given that's what the service is based around. What makes these other songs so special that I still have to fork out $0.99 for them if I want them? And it seems to be a random determination of what is additional charge and what's included - do a search for Sir Mix-a-Lot and of the 42 tracks of his they have, probably half are included and the rest require payment. But for Ludacris almost all of the tracks are included. Strange.
I'll give this a few more days before I decide if I want to keep with it - probably something that's a per-song charge (i.e. iTunes or MSN's music service) wouldn't be as good a fit for me at the moment since I want to be able to change the music out pretty quickly and without hassle or additional charge to dissuade me...
Oh, and if you're in the market for a new cell-phone and work anywhere that uses outlook/exchange I would highly recommend the smartphone. But that's another story.