Jake Ludington's Digital Lifestyle

UPDATE:As of January 2009, Yahoo has erased MusicMatch from the Internet.

The MusicMatch Jukebox is a software product I've never understood. There's always been at least one media player with a better combination of features. MusicMatch typically loaded slower than other players and the layout continually reminded me of RealPlayer (in this respect, it still does, although it's hard to say who is emulating who at this point). As if being a me too audio player wasn't enough to turn me off, MusicMatch successfully managed to annoy me with constant nagging to buy the Plus version each time I launched the supposedly free player. In the midst of all the uproar over Real hacking Apple's AAC/Fairplay digital rights management implementation, MusicMatch very quietly released a feature that is better than anything offered by any of the other music download services. Using MusicMatch Jukebox, in conjunction with the MusicMatch Music Store, you can now share full playlists with other MusicMatch users. By itself, that's nothing special. However, MusicMatch added the twist of being able to play every song in the playlist in full three times. This means if I purchase some music from their store and tell you how cool it is, I can share it with you and you can decide whether or not the songs are worth buying without spending any money to find out you don't like the music. This is a legitimate version of what every file sharing junkie has claimed they've been doing all along; trying out the music before they buy.