RealNetworks launches new Rhapsody services, gives away 25 songs per month

Real has introduced the new Rhapsody — delivering free, legal access to a library of more than a million songs to anyone in the U.S. for the first time.

The new Rhapsody lets anyone (in the USA only) listen to and legally share songs, of their choosing, every month. Consumers need to download the Rhapsody jukebox software from http://www.rhapsody.com. Once downloaded, they can listen to 25 full tracks from Rhapsody’s library of over one million songs each month, and have unlimited access to the jukebox’s other features at no additional cost. In addition, Real also announced enhancements to its Rhapsody Unlimited service, and added a new tier called Rhapsody To Go.

“With the new Rhapsody, millions of people can now experience and share digital music — legally, and with no strings attached,” said Rob Glaser, chairman and CEO of RealNetworks in the press release. “We think the new Rhapsody will transform digital music. What’s more, we believe that once consumers experience Rhapsody and share it with their friends, many people will upgrade to one of our premium Rhapsody tiers. We thank our partners in the music industry who worked closely with us to create an innovative and win-win approach that works for both the industry and consumers.”

Real says they worked closely with the music industry to create a more flexible model for consumers to try Rhapsody for free. As part of this arrangement, the music industry is paid for each song at a rate that is generally comparable to full on-demand subscription services. This works for Real and the music industry because the company believes that the new Rhapsody will drive significant increases in consumer usage, subscriptions and purchases of music. Real’s business relationship with Google and new sponsorship relationship with Chrysler will also help offset the music licensing costs.

“RealNetworks is enhancing the web experience for users in compelling new ways,” said Sergey Brin, co-founder and president, Technology, Google Inc. in the press release. “Providing free, legal music at such a large scale is an impressive
accomplishment.”

“This is the kind of bold thinking that first catapulted Real to the top of the digital landscape ten years ago,” said Richard Doherty, Research Director at The Envisioneering Group in the press release. “Allowing anyone to have a Rhapsody jukebox at no cost and creating a network that lets people listen to and legally share music holds the promise of creating a huge appeal for Real and expanding the music subscription model like never before.”

The three tiers of the new Rhapsody, Rhapsody 25, Rhapsody Unlimited, and Rhapsody To Go, all include features that enable consumers to customize their online music experience including:

• More than 1 Million Songs: Users can choose their favorite music from a library of more than a million CD quality songs that they can search by artist, track, album, or composer
• Community/Sharing: The software’s web-based “Send Playlist” feature makes it easier than ever to e-mail playlists to others. In addition, consumers can publish their playlists to Rhapsody’s new Playlist Central a great place to find playlists from other users, celebrities, Rhapsody’s music editors, and the destination where users can rate each others’ playlists.
• Personalization: The new My Rhapsody feature lets consumers customize their own homepage within Rhapsody to receive recommendations, new release information, and other content specific to their music tastes and listening history. In addition, with a touch of a button, they can now create “Instant Playlists” with recommended artists and albums based on their previous music selections.
• Music Management: Rhapsody now allows users to manage their entire digital music collection with one simple application, from playing and importing CDs to making mix CDs and transferring downloaded music tracks to portable music players.
• Parental Controls: Rhapsody provides parental controls, allowing parents to limit the music their children can access based parental advisory album ratings.
• Download Store: Rhapsody now offers an integrated music download store, enabling consumers to purchase their favorite songs in pristine 192 kbps RealAudio 10 with AAC. Once downloaded, tracks can be transferred to a wide variety of portable devices.
• Premium Radio Stations: All Rhapsody users have unlimited access to dozens of commercial-internet radio stations.

In addition, consumers can also choose to purchase two, new premium tiers of Rhapsody services:

Rhapsody Unlimited: In addition to streaming an unlimited amount of music, Rhapsody Unlimited subscribers can now download an unlimited number of songs to their PC’s hard drive from Rhapsody’s library of more than one million songs, and enjoy them offline for as long as they remain subscribers. Rhapsody Unlimited subscribers can also create custom internet radio stations based on their favorite artists, access over 50,000 artist based radio stations or nearly 100 free pre-programmed Internet radio stations, and view more than 1,500 music videos within the application.

In addition, Rhapsody Unlimited subscribers get a 10% discount on purchased downloads through the integrated music store. Downloaded songs are only 89 cents and most albums are $8.99 according to Real. Current Rhapsody All Access subscribers can convert to Rhapsody Unlimited at no charge. At just $9.99 per month, Rhapsody Unlimited subscribers can listen to an unlimited amount of music for less than the cost of a typical CD.

Rhapsody To Go: a portable subscription offering that will give subscribers the convenience of enjoying their favorite music wherever they go. In addition to enjoying all the features of the Rhapsody Unlimited service, Rhapsody To Go subscribers can transfer an unlimited number of downloads to compatible portable music players. The Rhapsody To Go service costs $14.99 per month. Real recommends the iriver H10 and the Creative Zen Micro portable music players for use with Rhapsody To Go. Real says they are committed to providing consumers choice and will continue to add support for additional devices.

As a special promotion, consumers who sign up for one year of the Rhapsody To Go service will receive a $100 mail-in rebate on an iriver H10 portable player. Rhapsody To Go is available for download at http://www.rhapsody.com

MacDailyNews Note: Rhapsody is Windows only. Mac users who try to access the rhapsody.com site are redirected to real.com. We changed our Safari User Agent to “Windows MSIE 6.0” in order to see the following information. Requirements include: Windows XP, Me, 2000 or 98 SE
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or later, JavaScript/Active Scripting enabled
Pentium II 350 MHz equivalent or better
64 MB of RAM minimum
380 MB available hard disk space
16-bit display recommended, 256 color-color display required
Broadband/128+ kbps Internet connection recommended (Internet connection not required for certain features such as local file playback or CD burning)
1024 x 768 display resolution recommended, 800 x 600 required
Sound card
Speakers or headphones

MacDailyNews Take: We wouldn’t mind having access to 25 free songs per month, but looks like we’ll have to live without it for now (or run Virtual PC). That’s okay, we’re quite happy with iPod+iTunes+iTunes Music Store. Perhaps this will spur Apple to add features, giveaways, and/or additional services to iTunes Music Store. Real and Napster will now be fighting for subscribers. The fact that neither works with Apple’s market-dominating iPod puts a quite damper on these services. 192 kbps AAC is nice – hopefully Apple will do the same sooner than later. What do you think?

Related MacDailyNews articles:
RealNetworks says ‘Harmony’ hack once again compatible with all Apple iPods – April 26, 2005
The Motley Fool: RealNetworks’ new Rhapsody ‘is still largely on the sidelines of the music war’ – April 26, 2005
Apple iTunes Music Store killer? Real expected to add subscriptions to Rhapsody music service – April 26, 2005