Rhapsody, TiVo Join Forces

The digital music service Rhapsody and digital video recorder pioneer TiVo on Tuesday announced a partnership that enables TiVo users to access the Rhapsody music service through their devices.

TiVo subscribers can search for music directly from their TiVo box and play anything from Rhapsody's music catalog, which currently contains more than four million songs. Users can search for music they want to listen to, browse charts, check out lists of new releases and listen to thousands of "radio stations" that continuously stream music to Rhapsody subscribers.

Rhapsody isn't free, although the service is available to new TiVo subscribers for free for 30-days. After that, it costs $12.99 per month. If you're already a Rhapsody subscriber, you can access your account through your TiVo at no extra charge.

Rhapsody is operated as a joint venture between RealNetworks and MTV Networks. The service emphasizes a $12.99 per month subscription fee that enables users to download as many songs as they want. However, it leverages Windows-specific Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology that requires you to continue paying a monthly fee to listen to any music you download. If you cancel your subscription, your music becomes unplayable. The service does not work with Apple iPods, nor does it work with Macs.