We just covered the big Rhapsody 3.0 announcement yesterday, detailing the three major parts of it, which include: a free version of Rhapsody, a Rhapsody Unlimited update, and Rhapsody To Go. We told you what these parts were but not how well they worked.

There are some issues with Rhapsody To Go that we ourselves have been trying to resolve for the past couple of days using a Zen Micro and an iRiver H10 (the latter of which is actually fresh from the box). We've basically had trouble transferring music onto either device. Evidently, we're not alone, because word is spreading on the Real Rhapsody message boards of problems with transferring subscription songs to supported MP3 players. As a result, we decided to kick our investigation up to the next level.

Matt Graves, senior PR manager of music for Real, put me in touch with Niranjan Nagar, Real's general manager of music services, just before he departed on a flight from New York back to the company's Seattle headquarters. Amazingly, Nagar diagnosed and remedied the problem we encountered while on his cell phone from a "JetBlue wireless hotspot", with the din of flight announcement bearing down on him. He quickly explained to us how to effectively download and transfer Rhapsody To Go files in about 20 minutes' time. So in case you encountered the same problem we did, perhaps the following will address your problem.

The problem? A corrupt Windows Media Digital Rights Management database. The symptom? Rhapsody To Go files won't transfer. The cure (in this case, anyway)? Authorizing your computer to resolve all Windows DRM issues and then getting Rhapsody customer support to clear your licenses for songs you downloaded before your licenses were straightened out.

1. Open Windows Media Player.
2. In Rhapsody, right-click on a song that won't transfer, and choose Show Track Location from the pop-up menu.
3. Drag the nonplaying track into Windows Media Player, and then play it.
4. While it's playing, right-click the song title in the right pane of Windows Media Player.
5. Choose Properties from the pop-up menu.
6. Click the License tab. If one of the usage rules you see listed is "This file cannot be synchronized," but you've signed up for Rhapsody To Go, this means your Windows Media DRM database needs to be fixed. To do that, follow the steps in the next section.

Fixing the Windows Media DRM Database

1. In Rhapsody, click Tools. You should see Authorize Computer. (If it says Deauthorize Computer instead, your Windows Media DRM situation is OK; the root of any problem you're having lies elsewhere.)
2. Click Tools/Authorize Computer. Wait for any progress bars that appear to run their courses.
3. Restart Rhapsody.
4. Tracks you download from this point forward should transfer over to your MP3 player.
5. In the case of those tracks you've already downloaded, unfortunately, Rhapsody can't reauthorize them on its own. The service grants you three transfers to any device for each song, but that information is not stored inside the song. Instead, it's in your DRM database. To get that reset for songs you already downloaded through Rhapsody To Go, you'll need to have Rhapsody customer support reset the settings manually. This is a necessary safeguard against people using Rhapsody to fill scores of MP3 players.
6. If you're still having problems transferring, try uninstalling and reinstalling Rhapsody.

Rhapsody's Big Makeover
Rhapsody just announced something big. Actually, it announced three big "somethings": a revamped subscription service, a free version of Rhapsody, and the ability to play subscription files on certain MP3 players.

Rhapsody To Go-compatible MP3 Players
15 bucks a month gets you all the music you can stand...but only if you have the right MP3 player.