So I decided to take advantage of my Rhapsody online music account to listen to the recent Rolling Stone Top 50 rock songs of all time. I really expected that services like Rhapsody would create a playlists such as this for their subscribers, but no.
So I decided to create my own. And I quickly found out why it was a no go. Here's a list of artists from the list with almost *no* music available online:
The Beatles (I seem to remember something about Michael Jackson outbidding McCartney for the rights??) There is only one Beatles album: "In The Beginning".
Led Zeppelin Zep is not even listed in my Rhapsody catalog. Not one song. Although it was a little scary to see all the remakes of Stairway to Heaven. Anyone ever hear the classic Dolly Parton cover???
Eagles One compilation song only, that huge hit "Rasta Harvest".
Ray Charles This one was intensely disappointing. Only a few albums, and only a few songs available on each. Significant exception is the tremendous "The Birth Of Soul (1952-1959)" which unfortunately doesn't include "Georgia on My Mind" which was recorded in 1960. The only "Georgia" recording available is a live performance from 2002 on the less-than-stellar "Late in the Evening".
On the flip side, a number of artists from the list are gloriously accessible, which extensive collections online, including:
Bob Dylan
The Rolling Stones
Aretha Franklin
The Beach Boys
Elvis Presley
The Who
Sam Cooke (somewhat smaller collection but still representative)
The Clash
Jimi Hendrix
Bruce Springsteen
Otis Redding
Johnny Cash
David Bowie
Note: I work in the online music field, and its my perception that most online services have most available titles. I don't know of any artists that are exclusive to a service, although some individual tracks might be, at least for a limited preview.
