Rhapsody will now be available as an a la carte service to any Metro smartphone customer regardless of which plan he or she subscribes to. But Metro customers will pay only $5 a month for unlimited music downloads, compared to the $10 Rhapsody typically charges for a single-device subscription.

Previously, MetroPCS included a Rhapsody subscription in its upper-tier data plans, along with other media services like its MetroStudio streaming portal. But the way the tiers worked, to get the music perk, a customer had to be willing to shell out $60 to $70 a month for 5 GB-or-more plan. When MetroPCS retooled its smartphone plans last month, it dropped prices across the board, but it sacrificed those bundled services in the process.

Now customers can get Rhapsody on a $40/500 MB smartphone plan (bringing the price to $45 a month). It’s important to note though that while song downloads are unlimited on Rhapsody, the bandwidth isn’t on Metro’s lower-tier plans. Rhapsody’s app will store music for offline playback, and you can make hefty use of Wi-Fi to keep your phone’s playlists updated. But if you’re out downloading or streaming music in the wild, Metro will start throttle back your speeds when you exceed your cap.

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The key to service is an updated version of MOG’s iPhone app, which automatically connects to Sync when connected via the USB port in 2012 Sync-enabled vehicles, including the Fiesta, Fusion, F-150, Super Duty, E-Series, Mustang and Expedition. The app can relay its settings, playlists and downloaded content to the car’s stereo. It also uses the iPhone’s 3G connectivity to link to MOG’s Internet-based services, giving the driver access to MOG’s curated radio stations, as well as playlist and ‘favorite’ songs not stored within the phone.

The integration goes beyond merely streaming the app’s audio feed through the car’s speakers. Ford worked closely with MOG as part of its App Link program to port the service’s user interface and core functionality into the dashboard. Basic Sync voice commands can be used to start the app, move between songs and shuffle playlists. Users can assign MOG radio stations and playlists to the stereo’s preset buttons, and they can designate new songs as favorites using through voice prompts, adding them to their music collections.

Ford has been positioning Sync App Link as a mobile platform over which developers can build apps for cars just as they would for Android or iOS phones. Ford, however, hasn’t yet opened App Link to the general developer community. Instead it has selectively added applications through direct partnerships. It’s primary focus has been on companies a lot like MOG – music or other audio content streaming services, as opposed to more visually oriented apps that might distract the driver.

Ford’s first big dev partner was Pandora, but the automaker has since included in the program Clear Channel’s digital streaming service iHeartRadio, audio magazine provider Stitcher, Slacker Personal Radio, and news services NPR and Orangatame OpenBeak.

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With major music services like Spotify and Rdio yet to launch in Russia, Yandex plans to announce the iOS app later on Wednesday, offering users the chance to tap into its Yandex Music service and pay for the right to stream direct to their handsets or iPods.

But while the subscription proposition is fairly common among international services, it’s not the norm everywhere — and that could prove tricky.

Most music services in Russia are free, including the web-based version of Yandex Music, which launched in 2009. In order to take that service mobile, however, the company is asking people to pay 199 roubles each month (around $6) for the right stream a library of music that currently holds more than 3 million tracks by 80,000 artists over the air to their phone.

There are subscription services available locally, including Zvooq.ru, which charges $5 a month for mobile and offline access — but, like Yandex, it still offers a free web player.

Yandex, which owns around two-thirds of the Russian search market, is clearly hoping it can covert some of its 5 million monthly web listeners to go the mobile route. But even it can convince them, just 2 percent of Russians use iPhones and — perhaps more importantly — the Russian music market is relatively undeveloped, with total sales across all formats of less than $100 million for 2011.

Turning profit in a market that is heavily reliant on piracy is tough — but could prove a significant bonus for the first company to really crack the problem, as Zvooq’s founders told the Financial Times last year:

“Some people see piracy as a threat, but we see it as a ready market with tens of millions of people consuming music online. It’s an opportunity,” says Simon Dunlop, one half of the duo behind Zvooq.ru, the online music service (whose name reflects Russian zvuk “sound”).

“If you have an established pirate market, it forces you to be that much better because you are competing with the free stuff,” he says.

Still, most potential entrants are steering clear for now. While our map of the worldwide market shows that there are 13 digital music services available locally, most international players have stayed out. Only Deezer and YouTube could really be considered global services: Spotify, for example, has no outpost in the region, despite taking a large slice of funding from the Moscow investment group Digital Sky Technologies.

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Step 1: Get Spotify

There are two ways to get a Spotify account: either by invitation for a free account, or by paying for premium or unlimited accounts. Once you have an account set up, you’ll need to download and install the Spotify OS X client application. Then just start browsing for music and create playlists. Just a few more steps, and you’ll turn your house into one big Spotify jukebox.

Step 2: Extend AirPlay to any Mac music app with Airfoil

Next you’ll need Rogue Amoeba’s Airfoil for Mac. Airfoil has been around since long before Apple introduced AirPlay and the second generation Apple TV. Any audio application on the Mac (including Spotify), or even the Mac’s system output can be made accessible to AirPlay devices with Airfoil.

1. Download and install Rogue Amoeba’s Airfoil for Mac.
2. Choose Spotify in Airfoil as the application you want to play.
3. Choose the AirPlay and/or Airfoil device(s) you want to connect to.
4. Play music using Spotify.

Step 3: Extend your range with Airfoil speakers

One of the limitations of Apple’s AirPlay has been the fact that iOS devices themselves are not able to receive AirPlay streams, only send them. Luckily, Rogue Amoeba created an app called Airfoil Speakers Touch for iOS devices that allows Airfoil to play music on any and all iOS devices connected to your local network. This works great if you want to extend your playback to speakers that otherwise would not be connected. There’s also a version of Speakers for OS X (.zip file) that will allow you to extend your playback to all the Macs on your network. Keep in mind that you are limited to your local network, so this is not a workaround for taking your library on the go, which is only included in the premium and unlimited Spotify accounts.

Bonus: Remote control options to round it all off

Now that you’re playing music from Spotify around your house, how can you also control it remotely? There are two good third-party solutions to help with this: One will let you control Airfoil on your Mac, and the other will allow you to control Spotify.

• Reemote for Airfoil. Kai Aras’ Reemote lets turn on and off different combinations of Airfoil and AirPlay enabled devices on your network. You can even control their individual volumes, to some extent, and you can switch your audio source application on the host Mac. There is an iPhone as well as an iPad version of Reemote. To make this work, you’ll also need to download and install the Reemote Server application for Mac.
• Two Remotes for Spotify. To control what playlists you’re listening to from within Spotify on the Mac, there are two good solutions. Axel Moller’s Spot Remote and Anders O’s Remoteless. Both apps are universal, supporting both the iPhone and iPad. Both allow you to browse and start Spotify playlists, as well as search for tracks, artist and albums. Another thing they both share is the use of an open source library called SIMBL. The server software for Spot Remote as well as Remoteless requires that SIMBL be installed on the host Mac in order for either solution to work. SIMBL allows third-party developers to enhance the functionality of other applications from other developers. Unfortunately, while it seems to work for some, OS X Lion does not yet appear to be officially supported by either solution.

Since this does require a bit of setup, it isn’t quite as easy as just using iTunes and an Apple TV. But if you’re looking for an alternative that makes use of Spotify’s great new service, maybe this is the whole home music solution you’ve been waiting for.

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Lala launched in 2006 as a CD trading website, followed by more permanent changes to its business model. Lala now sells DRM-free MP3s for as little 89 cents, as well as “web songs” for 10 cents. According to Lala, a “web song is a song that lives on the Internet,” that dime getting you unlimited number of plays from a web browser, which isn’t a micro-subscription at all. Yeah, this sounds exactly like what Apple is interested in.

Since the inception of the iTunes Store, Apple has been unequivocal in its opinion of music subscriptions—by any name—and often that non-equivocation has come from Steve Jobs. In a 2003 interview with Rolling Stone, the Apple CEO explained the intrinsic problem with “web songs,” that you don’t own your own music. He then added this Jobsian gem.

I think you could make available the Second Coming in a subscription model and it might not be successful.

So has Steve Jobs suddenly found his infinite plays of his own Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode for just ten cents? It seems unlikely. More likely, Apple may be interested in Lala because Google is interested. Lala recently partnered with Google for the search giant’s music service, and more recently Google acquired AdMob. Shortly before that acquisition, Apple was supposedly in talks with AdMob. However, while buying AdMob might have kept Google away from the App Store, Apple buying Lala won’t stop Google from seeding the Internet cloud with music.

There is another possibility, though. Lala also has a Music Mover service that lets users upload their collection and make it available “anywhere on the web.” Like an iPhone. At least, that would be the theory, though the reality of AT&T’s network might be a problem. Another problem to consider, at least for Apple, is what’s the point of buying a 32GB iPhone if 20GB of your music is in the cloud? It’s that latter issue that makes this a curious move for Apple, if a purchase of Lala is indeed Apple’s next move.

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