Good commentary in Slate today about downloaded music and the underappreciated music streaming services, particularly Rhapsody.

I have an iPod, and I've bought a song or two through iTunes, but I also love Rhapsody. It's not for everyone, but when you spend a lot of time writing or doing something else in front of a computer, a streaming music service can work out really well. The selection is huge, there's no downloading, there's no waiting, and you can listen to as much music as you want for ten bucks a month. I've used it extensively to try out new stuff that I otherwise probably wouldn't bother listening to, as well as to get at things that I like, but probably wouldn't buy on CD.

Thompson is right that the search engine is unsatisfying and badly needs improvement to catch up wtih the quality of the service in other respects. He's also right that there's no perfect solution yet. I'm still not a large-scale downloader, for exactly the reasons he mentions -- I don't like the limitations and so forth. I get my MP3 files from CDs I already own, and when I like something enough to want to own it, I still buy the CD.

But if you have oddball taste in music and like to be able to sample a huge quantity of stuff you've never heard, Rhapsody is a great addition to your undoubtedly growing list of subscriptions of online services of various kinds.