Sales Models

• Zune Music Pass is a monthly subscription service that allows users unlimited streaming of the Zune music store. In addition, Zune subscribers get 10 DRM-free tracks per month to keep indefinitely. Rhapsody is a similarly-priced subscription service that allows users to stream unlimited content from the Rhapsody music store. Users can supplement their downloads with separate purchases from Rhapsody MP3, a parallel music store based on a pay-per-unit model.
  
  

Digital Rights Management

• Both Zune and Rhapsody feature tightly controlled digital rights management on downloaded content. However, if you have, for example, a large collection of MP3s ripped from CDs or purchased from DRM-free stores like Amazon MP3, Zune will allow you to import these tracks and merge them with your Zune library. Rhapsody will allow you to import ripped or DRM-free files in MP2, MP3, WMA and WAV formats. Neither service will allow you to burn tracks to a CD-R, unless you have purchased those tracks outright or imported them from your own music collection.
  
  

Codec Support

• Rhapsody's streaming service uses WMA files encoded at 128 Kbps. If you download a track under the subscription service, that track can either be a 160 Kbps WMA or a 128 Kbps RAX (Real Audio) file. Tracks purchased outright are in 192 Kbps RAX format. Rhapsody allows users to import tracks in MP2, MP3, RA, WMA and WAV formats. Though primarily a WMA-powered service, Zune supports the following file formats: MP3, MP4, M4A, M4B, MOV and constant bit rate, variable bit rate and lossless WMA.
  
  

Mobile Device Support

• Though Rhapsody's parent company, Real, does not have a proprietary music player, some users see that as a benefit. In order to accommodate the needs of its user base, Rhapsody has developed apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch, Android and BlackBerry -- and made these apps free to monthly subscribers.
  
  Zune Music Pass benefits from tight integration with the Zune portable music player. Because a single entity -- Microsoft -- maintains both projects, compatibility isn't much of an issue. Though Microsoft discontinued production of the Zune player in October 2011, Zune Music Pass also allows you to access your music on other Microsoft devices, including the Xbox 360 and Windows Phone. Some users have asked for an iOS-compatible Zune app, but the longstanding rivalry between Microsoft and Apple has prevented that from becoming a reality.