RealNetworks has struck a deal with broadband provider Comcast to promote its Rhapsody online music service, and says more hardware that lets users listen to online music on their home stereo systems will be available soon.
Comcast will promote Rhapsody on its Web site and offer its almost 5 million broadband customers a seven-day free Rhapsody trial and ten free songs that can be recorded to a CD if they subscribe, says Dan Sheeran, RealNetworks senior vice president of marketing. The two companies also will launch a joint TV advertising campaign, he says.
Newest Partner
The deal with Comcast, one of the largest U.S. cable ISPs, adds to existing deals with broadband ISPs including Time Warner Cable, Verizon Communications, and Cablevision Systems, RealNetworks says.
RealNetworks is also pushing Rhapsody on the hardware front. The company is working with device makers on "Rhapsody Ready" boxes that extend the music service to the home stereo, Sheeran says.
To enable the hardware, RealNetworks licensed Universal Plug-n-Play (UPNP) tools from Intel to build UPNP support into Rhapsody. That support allows consumer electronics makers who use UPNP compliant devices to make their devices interoperable with Rhapsody, according to RealNetworks.
A few devices that support UPnP and Rhapsody, such as Rockford's Omnifi, are already available, but more should come to market next year, according to RealNetworks. More details are expected to be announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.
A Real Shift
RealNetworks has been transitioning from a company best known for its media player software to an online music service provider. The company completed the takeover of Rhapsody creator Listen.com in August and in October said its music service subscription base has grown to more than 250,000 subscribers--a 46 percent increase in three months.
Rhapsody offers access to more than 30,000 CDs from all five major record labels as well as more than 200 independent labels. Subscribers pay $9.95 monthly for unlimited streaming music. More than 325,000 tracks can be recorded to a CD for 79 cents per track. Because of music licensing restrictions, Rhapsody is available to U.S. residents only.
Competition includes online stores such as BuyMusic.com and Apple Computer's iTunes as well as free file-swapping services such as Kazaa and Grokster.
