Music subscription service Rhapsody is going to Europe, but not under its own name. The company will use the Napster brand in the U.K. and Germany to compete with Spotify. The company announced the acquisition of Napster’s foreign assets three months after it bought Napster USA. Read More »
Tech
As media and entertainment went digital, many looked to the music sector as the canary in the coal mine. Digital comprises over 40 percent of consumer sales, but the whole market was worth only $5.9 billion in 2010. Even digital felt stagnant. But that’s changing. Read More »
It’s time to say good-bye to the cat: The announced acquisition of Napster by Rhapsody means that the Napster brand will cease to exist. Company’s staff will be laid off in December, its offices shuttered, and the future of its international operations is undecided. Read More »
On-demand music service pioneer Rhapsody is acquiring Napster, the company announced Monday. The deal is just the latest example of how the rapid ascent of Spotify — which GigaOM called “the new Napster” back in 2009 — is shaking up the on-demand music space in a… Read More »
Spotify’s journey to the US has been highly anticipated almost since the on-demand music streaming service first launched in its native Europe in October 2008. But with all the Spotify buzz, let’s not forget about the great music services that were born here in the US.… Read More »
Last week Om broke a big story on Facebookâs plans for music. But is music Facebook’s next billion-dollar business? It will be hard for the company to cash in big on music. Here are three reasons why. Read More »
Pandora finally went public last week, and with its focus on radio, the company has a better chance for mass adoption than most other digital music services. While it may be losing money now, here are a few steps it could take to raise revenues. Read More »
Android device owners are singing a new tune this week with the addition of streaming music provider Rhapsody to the list of services available for download in the Android Market, and Android phone owners with Mac desktops can sync apps on them to their phones using… Read More »
Music subscription provider Rhapsody became an independent company, two months after RealNetworks revealed plans to cede majority control of the unit. Rhapsody, in which RealNetworks and Viacom now hold minority stakes, also slashed its monthly subscription price to compete with innovative rivals that have appeared recently. Read More »
If music subscription service Rhapsody hoped that adding a mobile component would turn around its fortunes, new numbers suggest otherwise. Rhapsody’s subscriber base dipped below 700,000 by year’s end, meaning that its mobile applications aren’t winning over new customers fast enough to replace cancellations. Read More »
Facing slow growth, eMusic and its owner JDS Capital Management are reportedly looking to sell to someone like Best Buy or Rhapsody (aka RealNetworks). But we think buying the company might be a good way for Spotify to get into the U.S. Read More »
The theory that mobile applications will boost interest in music subscriptions has its first test subject in RealNetworks’ Rhapsody, which released an iPhone app in early September that has since been downloaded more than half a million times. Most of those downloaders were non-subscribers… Read More »
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