[hfcg]

I enjoy music but do not want to be involved with any thing illegal or that puts malware on my machine

[Advertisements]

I think it was kind of like Napster and is legal now. Correct me if I'm wrong

[Chopin]

I think it was kind of like Napster and is legal now. Correct me if I'm wrong

[Johanna]

Rhapsody is legal, does not contain malware and is easy to use. RealPalyer (you have to have it to use Rhapsody) is kinda sneaky, but harmless.
Johanna

[Jujuju]

Yes, Rhapsody is legal

[weasel_pup]

I enjoy music but do not want to be involved with any thing illegal or that puts malware on my machine

It is perfectly legal. The business model is that you pay a subscription price that grants you access a huge library of music. It was a merger between Muse music service and Real (I think). I have been a subscriber since the early days, and initially I was skeptical but I've found it enjoyable. It has evolved somewhat over the years, adding features, platforms (used to require its own client browser but now you can access this on any web browser).

Pros: seemingly unlimited collection of music, reviews that seem to correlate with my personal tastes. I wind up starting with an artist I had just heard somewhere, sampled the music, browsed similar artists of similar genre, and wind up wandering all over the place and listening to artists I otherwise would not have known about.

Cons: you don't own the music, so you have to log in every time you want to listen. Can designate only 5 computers to your account (not a problem usually). Some key albums missing or some highly desired artists missing (but it changes so I haven't been disappointed)

So you simply need to decide if, in a year, you wish to budget $12 per month to buy 15 or so CDs, or use the same budget to have access to literally thousands more, and if you really liked the music, you can purchase the songs or whole album, similarly as you would on iTunes, usually at 10% less. In the end, when its time for me to depart this dear world, I won't be able to bequeath a single disc to my children, (would they even want it?) and I'm pretty sure you can't take it with you.

Well, could go on and on, but I hope you get the picture. I think there is a 14 day free trial period. There is no obligation, and you can cancel any time. (no I don't work for Rhapsody)

Cheers

[ScHwErV]

Moving to Tech Discussion

[james_8970]

Rhapsody is legal, does not contain malware and is easy to use. RealPalyer (you have to have it to use Rhapsody) is kinda sneaky, but harmless.

Rhapsody is perfectly legal, though if it does indeed use RealPlayer.......well lets just say that program is a pain and I find it very annoying.
If I remember correctly, it changes itself to the default player for everything and doesn't like to be uninstalled among other things.
James