It looks like Real is aiming to grab more consumers by the introduction of its new subscription based music download services. The two new subscription services consist of Rhapsody Unlimited and Rhapsody To Go and as the names suggest, they are Real's equivalent to Napster's Unlimited and Napster To Go services. Real will also offer a free service called Rhapsody 25, which allows consumers to listen to 25 user chosen songs for free each month, in an aim to get them to take up one of their subscription services.
Rhapsody unlimited allows consumers to download and playback as much music to their hearts content from a catalogue of over a million tunes, so long as they continue to pay the subscription fee, at US$9.99 per month. However, the music cannot be transferred to another device or PC and expires once the user cancels their subscription. Rhapsody To Go works just like Rhapsody unlimited, however with the addition that subscribers can transfer music to Janus compatible players. This subscription costs US$14.99 per month.
For those who wish to record their music to CD or keep their music without a subscription, Real charges 89c per song or $8.99 per album. This is around 10% cheaper than most of its competitors.
|
The business model clearly is not the direction record companies had in mind when they sued Napster during the dot-com boom. All the record industry wanted to do was, eventually, sell recordings online just as it had done for decades in stores -- with even more profit considering how much would be saved by not moving all those plastic discs around in trucks. But whether the music industry wants to admit it or not, services like Rhapsody, Napster and even iTunes are pushing the major record labels further away from that goal, perhaps for good. Read the full article here. |
While Real use to be in dispute with Microsoft over them shipping Windows Media Player with Windows, it is quite interesting to see Real now making use of Windows Media Audio to offer its new subscription services. However, while users may need to use Real player to download the music, it is unclear if users are required to play their music through Real player or if they can be played through Windows Media Player also.
In my opinion, I don't think these two new subscription services are really going to have much of an impact against Napster, however the cheaper price for purchasing tracks and albums may lure some consumers in who are interested in recording music to CD, such as to re-rip into a more MP3 player friendly format :p
Feel free to discuss and find out more about online music services on our Music Download, Peer to Peer (P2P) & Legal Issues Forum.
Source: NewsFactor Network
