Yahoo! Music Unlimited

July 7, 2006 in 5 out of 5 stars, Fun, Technology

What is it?


Yahoo! Music Unlimited[*]: A flat out, too-good-to-be-true, $60/yr, all you can eat, on demand, music candy store.

Yahoo! Music Unlimited

Who makes it?

Yahoo!

Why is it the killerest?

If you are tethered to your desk for most of the day and enjoy music, this service is a life-changer. I reviewed Yahoo's Launchcast music service a year ago. A month ago, I finally upgraded to Unlimited and haven't accomplished a single thing since.

Not really, but here's what I love:

  1. You have to use a special Yahoo! player. I wasn't thrilled about the idea of another media player on my computer, but this thing is amazing. I don't use it to catalog my music (still use iTunes for that) but I do use it with this service, and it's positively amazing. It uses Windows Media Player as it's guts (transparently) and it is very impressive. It's polished and does a brilliant job of reading my mind and making it easy to run around like a wildman inside the candy store.
  2. It keeps all your ratings from Launch and lets you use them to find music you like.
  3. You can share a song you like via link with a friend (fellow subscriber) over email or IM.
  4. It still has the Launch radio built in as part of it. And the best part? You hear a song you like - 2 clicks later you're on the song or album page. Listen to the song again, or the whole album. Any time.
  5. If you want to buy a song, (a la iTunes) it's only $0.79.
  6. You can put any music locally on your machine.
  7. You can make playlists.
  8. You can run it on up to three computers at a time.
  9. I've finally, almost, after repeated, near-intravenous listening - gotten enough of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy. (Does that make me craaazzaay?)

What could be improved?

It doesn't work with the iPod. But this isn't Yahoo's fault, it's Apple's.

It doesn't have every single song ever created. Again, not Yahoo's fault (it's typically the label's fault) but it's a bummer. That said: with over a million songs, 90% of what I look for, I find. It's amazing really.

You can't burn CDs without paying (duh) or take it with you (although they have a service ("take it to go" tab) that allows that too, for $10/mo).

How much does it cost?

$60/yr or $7/mo - start with a free trial .

Rating?

Reviewed by Carson McComas

[*] The links above are affiliate links. Should you wish to follow them without supporting this site (fine!), or if it just makes you feel yucky, please use this direct link instead:  http://music.yahoo.com/ymu

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LAUNCHcast (Yahoo Music)

June 24, 2005 in 5 out of 5 stars, Fun, Hosted software

What is it?


LAUNCHcast (Yahoo Music): Every deskmonkey needs good tunes. Launch is an online radio (of sorts) where you tailor the kind of music you listen to based on how you rate music. It learns what you like, then delivers it to you. It works extremely well. It's not "on demand," it's more like the radio, where you take what you get, but they give you what you want.

Launch

Who makes it?

Yahoo bought them a few years back.

Why is it the killerest?

High quality music, massive music selection, runs in your browser (nothing to download or install), exposes you to all sorts of new stuff you'd never find otherwise.

I listen to Launch 8+ hrs every day. I've gotten more return on this money than any money I've ever spent.

What could be improved?

Ideally I'd like it to be on-demand, but realize for the price that this can't be beat.

How much does it cost?

Free for medium quality music w/ads. $36/yr for no ads, high quality music.

Rating?

Reviewed by Carson McComas

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