…And now, part two of our “date with Rhapsody.” Before we can get the new material, we need to see where we have been.

Website: http://www.rhapsody.com
Developer: RealNetworks
App Type: Music store/audio streaming
The Test: After an astonishing three overtime periods, the Rhapsody player beat the Slacker app in terms of sound quality, three to two. It must be mentioned, however, that the Slacker service has a much bigger back catalog. (More on this later.)

…And with that, we can finally move forward. Enjoy!

The Positives: Starting at one and working towards three…

1. You would be surprised how handy having an “entire library of music in your pocket” can be.
2. The entire “streaming” process is incredibly smooth and pain free. Just click on the song you want and away you go.
3. Discovering new music is a breeze. Thanks to Rhapsody, I found myself listening to bands and tracks that I haven’t heard from in years, such as experimental rock band Self and the undisputed king of “Avant-garde bubblegum” himself, Todd Rundgren.

Of course, every list of positives has to be accompanied by a list of negatives. From the top:

1. The library itself is rather “incomplete,” shall we say. I find it interesting that Rhapsody has music by little-known, Southern gospel tinged, jam band Sweet Vine but has a grand total of five songs from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Not five albums, mind you. Five songs. I understand the “limitations” put upon services like this by record labels and whatnot, but that is borderline ridiculous.
2. How much would you pay for an app such as this? Five dollars a month? Seven? According to the fine folks at RealNetworks, the “correct” price for the Rhapsody service is a whopping fifteen dollars a month. I really am enjoying myself, but not that much.
3. According to Rhapsody, every soundtrack, film score, and multiple-musician live album was actually produced by a band called “Various Artists.” No other names are listed. That little “omission” gets to be extremely annoying, especially when you find yourself digging through some little known compilation album looking for your favorite band or artist.
4. I like it when radio stations, both traditional and otherwise, throw the listener a proverbial “curve ball” and play something a bit unexpected. Rhapsody Radio, on the other hand, abuses the privilege on a fairly regular basis. The “Soft Sounds” station, for example, featured terminally depressed new wave band The Cure, southern folk super group The Thorns, and Neil Sedaka all in a row. I like being “challenged,” but that is, once again, ridiculous.

Final Thoughts: Despite my initial misgivings, I really did enjoy using Rhapsody. That said, there are still a few “kinks” that need to be ironed out before it can be considered an alternative to iTunes or Slacker. Fix those “issues,” and then we’ll talk.

Overall (out of ten): 6. Great idea; mediocre execution.