Actually I don't like the idea that music is only available for streaming and still prefer regular MP3 and WMA downloads. On December 1 2011, the popular Napster To Go subscription service merged with Rhapsody. The good thing about Napster is that their service offered unlimited WMA downloads for the monthly sum of $15. The bad thing is that their music format was DRM-protected. But actually it was possible to use a converter program for copy-protected files. Another Napster-like service is called Kazaa. The scheme keeps working for Kazaa downloads – you download music in DRM WMA format and use a software to convert WMA to MP3. Another way to download music and videos is using Apple iTunes store. They provide audio in MP3 format and videos in DRM-protected M4V. An iTunes store has it's pros and cons. Here you pay for each track or video you download and it appears quite expensive. The good thing is that no need to convert songs that are unprotected MP3's and you still can find a working M4V video converter to remove protection from videos.
Spotify is the popular and fast growing digital music service based in Sweden. They offer music downloads in the form of streaming audio. Being a Spotify subscriber, you can start a free or paid subscription. Paid service provides music without ads and audio quality is higher. In order to use Spotify, you need to create your own account, select a subscription plan and download Spotify client. With a free subscription users are granted access to millions of songs, the ability to manage their music favorites and sync with a digital player like iPod or mobile. Spotify Unlimited is the paid subscription that costs $4.99 a month. Buying this plan, your music is not interrupted with advertisements anymore that makes listening even more pleasant.
Spotify Premium provides music with improved sound quality, and lots of playback devices are fully supported. The key feature of Spotify Premium is the ability to listen to music when offline. In order to keep favorite songs in your player when not connected to Internet, create the desired playlist in Spotify software and mark it "Available offline". After that a program will sync the files with your player. Since Spotify is primarily online streaming service, the downloaded tracks are not stored in regular MP3 format. Possibly there is a program to download music from Spotify, but it doesn't seem to be legal. The positive thing about Spotify is the ability to subscribe free of charge. You only "pay" when actually listening to ads. Unlike Rhapsody, this service is available in several European countries and the USA. On July 14 2011, Spotify team issued a statement letting everyone know that their service becomes available in the USA. Now it's gaining more and more followers among music fans. BTW, Spotify perfectly works from the United Kingdom either.
Source: SoundTaxi – everyone's favorite MP4 to MP3 converter software.