It is a sad day in the life of me. So I was in the middle of writing up a nice little blog about how great Yahoo! Music service is, when all of a sudden my music stops. My immediate thought is that it is one of those messages that pops up every hour or so asking if you would like to continue. I do not mind those messages, as they let Yahoo! know that I am actually listening to the radio and not just wasting their bandwidth. I can fully respect that, and actually welcome the slightly annoying feature. But then I thought to myself, didn't I just click on one of those messages a few minutes ago? Yup, I did, this message was completely different. Before I get into the message, let me explain some of the positives (and a few negatives) of Yahoo! Music.
The biggest positive, it tailors to your listening habits. Unlike other stations which let you rate the song you are listening too, Yahoo! Music lets you rate the song, the artist, and even the album … and it actually makes a difference. Yahoo! Music then takes these ratings and builds a radio station strictly for you. Nice! And it even plays multi-genre (the only radio station I have noticed which does this) without the touch of a button. If you rate mostly Hip-Hop, and maybe a few country songs, while listening to your radio station you will hear mostly Hip-Hop songs, and maybe a few country songs; just the way you like it. So with all that, and given that I am a multi-genre guy, I have been using Yahoo! Music a lot more than a little bit lately. Reason being, there simply is nothing comparable (that I am aware of) at the moment. MSN Music is OK, but it is nothing compared to Yahoo! Music. In addition, Yahoo! Music only needs a web-browser (Internet Explorer) to work. No software, or drivers, or other 'stuff'. It’s great!
Now I am sure you can see how impressed I am with the Yahoo! Music service. With that, I am sure you can understand why I was so devastated when I got that fatal message. The message that so nicely stated:
You have reached your monthly usage limit. For the rest of the month, you have two options:
1) Sign-Up for LAUNCHcast Plus ($4.99/month)
2) Listen with limited services:
a. Only your customized station with a limited catalog
b. No song skipping
c. Low audio quality
Huh, monthly usage limits? I had no idea there was a monthly usage limit. How horrible, how extremely horrible. I guess it makes sense. If people did not have any limits, there would be no incentive to EVER switch over to LAUNCHcast Plus. As a business man, I can understand this ideology. In fact, I can agree with the low quality, I can even agree with no song skipping. But why oh why must I be subject to a limited catalog? I mean, I am not sure exactly how limited the catalog is, but they make it sound extreme. Something to the extreme of a Mike Jones, Nelly, 50 Cent and Fat Joe only radio station (oh wait, that is MTV … my bad).
OK, so I have been listening to the “limited” version of Yahoo! Music for a few hours, and, it is still great. All the features that got me attached to Yahoo! Music to begin with remain intact. And this “limited” catalog of songs is still a few multiples times better than any local radio station I have ever heard. Kudos to you Yahoo!
One last feature I just found out about … explicit lyric filtering. Yes, you can set Yahoo! Music to NOT play any songs which have explicit lyrics in them. I know most of you are thinking “Why would I do that?”, but if you attempt to listen to some good 'ol Hip-Hop at work while co-workers are within earshot, you will know why. This to me is a fantastic feature as I can now listen to my music without having to always wear headphones. However, BEWARE, it does not edit all language. Any language that is ok to talk about or suggest on a typical radio station, is included. Therefore, you will hear an ass, weed, and the occasional bitch in a few songs. Just an FYI for those whose offices are a little bit on the conservative side of things.
Anyway, check out Yahoo! Music. It has tons to offer for the low low price of free. Adios and enjoy.
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