Will current Rhapsody account work with Tour/VZW Rhapsody?

[invision-studios]

I have a current (non-VZW) subscription to Rhapsody with my Sansa E260. I really like Rhapsody, great service for only $15 a month: unlimited (but DRM protected) songs.

Just wondering: if I already have a Rhapsody account, will I be able to transfer tracks to a Tour/9630? I'm upgrading from my clunky old 8703e. Or, do I have to cancel my separately-billed Rhapsody account and enroll thru VZW?

I downloaded and installed the VZW/Rhapsody app to play music on my desktop, and it appears to be the same software as the regular Rhapsody Windows desktop player, but with a VZW cross-brand logo. Obviously, the 8703e isn't going to show up as a device, it's not on the list of approved devices. The Tour is, however.

This isn't going to affect my decision to upgrade to the Tour, but just trying to be prepared. My goal is to combine multiple devices (phone, digicam, GPS, mp3 player) into a single device. Less to carry, less to charge.

[pkcable]

That's a good question. You MIGHT be able too, but if the music has DRM it could be a problem. Hopefully one of our BZW tech can tell us.

[Lady.Khrystal]

A customer told me: you would need to cancel the subscription with Rhapsody and sign up through Verizon, but you can keep your same username and password. Any music you purchased you could keep, and any of the unlimited download music can just be redownloaded (since it's all-inclusive under the $15 anyways).

***I was told this when the VZW Rhapsody first came out, so I don't know if it has changed.

[invision-studios]

So the answer is... YES! The Tour/9630 can be used with an **existing** Rhapsody account. The only reason to switch would be if you want to combine your monthly Rhapsody bill into your VZW bill.

I downloaded and installed the VZW/Rhapsody app, but just out of curiosity, I opened my regular Rhapsody app... the 9630 shows up as a device, all I had to do was right-click and choose "authorize device" from the popup menu.

So you don't even need the VZW branded Rhapsody app.

I'm in the process of transferring data & apps to the new BB. I'll copy some Rhapsody to Go songs on it when I'm done with that to see how well it works.

[spach1975]

Thanks for the info. I'll be upgrading soon and would like to eliminate (or reduce the need to carry) my SanDisk Sansa. But I'm a Rhapsody subscriber so this is definitely important to me.

[invision-studios]

I just downloaded the new Daughtry CD from Rhapsody To Go, copied the tracks to my Tour, went to the music player app, and the songs are in there! It plays great, interrupts/pauses when a call comes in.

This is exactly the reason I purchased the Tour. I no longer need my SanDisk e260, or my GPS, or a wireless modem card for my notebook. I'm getting it all in my Tour. Oh yea, it's a phone too.

AWESOME! I love technology.

[invision-studios]

Just to add to this discussion. I installed the vCast Music/Rhapsody app on my BB Tour. The only thing it adds to my BB is the ability to download & buy music.

With the regular Rhapsody app installed on my PC, I can add music to my library, then copy it to my BB with the BB Desktop Manager. Once copied, it shows up in the music player app on the BB.

Again, the vCast app doesn't add anything to the equation, unless I want to buy songs. I already get them 'free' with Rhapsody to go. When you access "My Songs" on the vCast app, it just launches the music player.

My Rhapsody to Go plan is $14.99/month. Unlimited song downloads for that. They are Digital Rights Managed (DRM), in a format that requires the subscription validation to allow them to play.

Still, a helluva deal.

[limegrass69]

Can you use (stream) the Rhapsody radio and use playlists, or do you have to actually pull the media onto to the device?

[invision-studios]

I haven't tried Rhapsody radio yet (even tho I've had Rhapsody for about 3 years). How does that work? My Rhapsody enabled mp3 player had a built-in FM tuner, but I never tried to play Rhapsody radio. I'm pretty sure anything Rhapsody does has to be downloaded.

That being said, I AM running I heart radio on my Tour. Works well, interrupts when a call comes in... very happy with it.

[awsmadam]

I cannot get my tour to play Rhapsody downloaded music. I transfer the tunes to the device but they wont play...Any suggestions? When I try to play them the pull up and sit there for a second the moves on the the next song without playing any sound. I can get my purchased songs to play so I am thinking it is something to do with licensing or drm not sure though...

[tsguy52]

Originally Posted by awsmadam

I cannot get my tour to play Rhapsody downloaded music. I transfer the tunes to the device but they wont play...Any suggestions? When I try to play them the pull up and sit there for a second the moves on the the next song without playing any sound. I can get my purchased songs to play so I am thinking it is something to do with licensing or drm not sure though...

Are you using a memory card? I've had this problem before - try formatting the memory card and transferring the music back over.

Also you may want to try right clicking the device listed and click on "License".

[awsmadam]

Thanks for the reply, I have tried to reformat card, same problem, auth and deauth device same problem, click license...no change, also checked system folder on usb mass storage and no folder in there named drm to delete...thats about all the things i can find to try after searching the forums, I know calling them will produce no results...

[tsguy52]

Originally Posted by awsmadam

Thanks for the reply, I have tried to reformat card, same problem, auth and deauth device same problem, click license...no change, also checked system folder on usb mass storage and no folder in there named drm to delete...thats about all the things i can find to try after searching the forums, I know calling them will produce no results...

That's strange.. Tried reinstalling Rhapsody? What about downloading a new song and transferring just that song to see if it will play?

Normally if you get a license problem it will give you an error message specific to that. You could try transferring an MP3 over and see if that plays?

[awsmadam]

Ok so this attempt I deauth phone, unplug usb, reformat sd card, hard boot battery pull, open rhapsody with desktop manager, hook up phone, authorize and this time it does something new it didnt do before, it pulls up a window that says syncing license or something, download one new song, try to play now i get licensing error also new didnt do that before, click license in rhap for device, wait for update, try to play song, same message...grrrrr

[tsguy52]

Originally Posted by awsmadam

Ok so this attempt I deauth phone, unplug usb, reformat sd card, hard boot battery pull, open rhapsody with desktop manager, hook up phone, authorize and this time it does something new it didnt do before, it pulls up a window that says syncing license or something, download one new song, try to play now i get licensing error also new didnt do that before, click license in rhap for device, wait for update, try to play song, same message...grrrrr

Are you sure these files are not going onto the phone's memory? If that was the case, then the formatting of the memory card wouldn't help much. However, if your Tour connects to rhaspody like mine, then it doesn't even show the option to transfer to device specifically like my Storm.

The ONLY other option at this point is a hard reset on the phone

Pretty sure you have everything setup correctly.