Streaming Music subscriptions
EndersShadow
Posts: 17,590
So after burning all my CD's to FLAC and doing a massive amount of research into different OS's and whatnot I am not sure I want to keep going with FLAC as a format, mostly due to overall cost (purchasing the physical media sometimes an entire CD for just one song). Don't get me wrong I plan to keep all my files in FLAC when possible (if I actually buy the CD), but its just too darn easy to download MP3's off the web (and if they keep upping the bitrate it will only get better).
So in thinking about the average cost of a song .99 in either Itunes (which I dont use) or Amazon (which I do) I came across a different option: Zune Pass.
Now before you all tell me Zune's are dead, down with Windows, Bill Gates is the devil, yada, yada, yada I have a Zune HD, and a Xbox 360. So from the get-go it keeps me from buying anything new. For 14.99 a month (or 150 for the year) Zune Pass give's me access to their entire library, lets me stream and sync it to my Zune, Xbox 360, ect and lets me keep 10 songs a month even if I cancel my membership.
I can connect 3 computers (I have a laptop and desktop) and 3 Zunes + my 360 and stream new music on all of them. Now the files are DRM protected (even the 10 ones I keep a month) so I dont know if you can burn them onto a CD or not (which is one downside). The other is any music I havent bought (using my 10 purchases a month) becomes unplayable after I cancel my membership. So basically for a little bit more than the cost of an entire MP3 CD off Amazon a month I can have access to a much broader list of artists and slowly over time buy the songs I want.
I honestly think I might just go with this route and deal with lossy MP3's since it give's me a massive amount of data to access, allows me to use my exisiting gear and not have to buy anything, and will work with any Windows 7 phone (which is what I might be upgrading to).. I also dont mind the Zune software myself (although I must say I have enjoyed Media Monkey very very much).
Wondering what other software/services folks use and their experiences with it. Also anyone who has used or is using the Zune pass please comment.
So in thinking about the average cost of a song .99 in either Itunes (which I dont use) or Amazon (which I do) I came across a different option: Zune Pass.
Now before you all tell me Zune's are dead, down with Windows, Bill Gates is the devil, yada, yada, yada I have a Zune HD, and a Xbox 360. So from the get-go it keeps me from buying anything new. For 14.99 a month (or 150 for the year) Zune Pass give's me access to their entire library, lets me stream and sync it to my Zune, Xbox 360, ect and lets me keep 10 songs a month even if I cancel my membership.
I can connect 3 computers (I have a laptop and desktop) and 3 Zunes + my 360 and stream new music on all of them. Now the files are DRM protected (even the 10 ones I keep a month) so I dont know if you can burn them onto a CD or not (which is one downside). The other is any music I havent bought (using my 10 purchases a month) becomes unplayable after I cancel my membership. So basically for a little bit more than the cost of an entire MP3 CD off Amazon a month I can have access to a much broader list of artists and slowly over time buy the songs I want.
I honestly think I might just go with this route and deal with lossy MP3's since it give's me a massive amount of data to access, allows me to use my exisiting gear and not have to buy anything, and will work with any Windows 7 phone (which is what I might be upgrading to).. I also dont mind the Zune software myself (although I must say I have enjoyed Media Monkey very very much).
Wondering what other software/services folks use and their experiences with it. Also anyone who has used or is using the Zune pass please comment.
"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
Post edited by EndersShadow on
Comments
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I have the Zune pass. It is AWESOME. Great for discovering new music. We have been very, very happy with it at our house. Works very well with the 360. I don't use it much, but there is great value in the 10 free song keepers you get each month.
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I have the Zune pass. It is AWESOME. Great for discovering new music. We have been very, very happy with it at our house. Works very well with the 360. I don't use it much, but there is great value in the 10 free song keepers you get each month.
Yeah, the more I think about it the more I like it. It would also cement my HTPC as being Windows based and also since we are probably going to do Netflix as well make things much easier.
I might not even worry about the HTPC and just use my 360 (but the computer geek in me says otherwise)"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
We get by just fine with the 360, using Zune Pass, Netflix and streaming other media off a WHS or desktop PC.
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We get by just fine with the 360, using Zune Pass, Netflix and streaming other media off a WHS or desktop PC.
Yeah I could build a cheap HTPC that would allow me to make it a Windows 7 media center only type deal. That way we could play all our music/movies from it and maybe sell my dedicated blu-ray player or move it upstairs......
That and with the HTPC I would figure out how to store all our DVD's on it as well so no more getting up to remember what we have lol...."....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
