Rhapsody to submit iPhone app to Apple
By Michael W. Jones
Although Apple has not yet tried a subscription service through the iTunes store, partially due to Steve Jobs objections, the Rhapsody music streaming service may be going to test those waters first.
Rhapsody, a division of Real Networks, will be submitting an iPhone version of the Rhapsody application to the Apple App Store as soon as tomorrow. Rhapsody is an online music service run by RealNetworks. It was the first music service to offer streaming on-demand access to nearly its entire library of digital music. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, RealNetworks’ version of digital rights management.
Rhapsody’s mobile iPhone app will require that users already have a Rhapsody-to-Go account, which currently costs $14.95 per month. According to rumors, non-subscribers will be offered a limited time free-trial period. The Rhapsody service allows subscribers to explore and stream Rhapsody’s entire online music catalog over EDGE, 3G, or Wi-Fi. They can also create and store playlists of their favorite content. The app will not, however, allow users to download and store Rhapsody songs directly on the device, or cache content temporarily to hear offline.
In the past, Apple (and specifically Steve Jobs) have steered clear of subscription music plans, making it impossible for services such as Napster or Rhapsody to work with the iPod, apparently fearing competition with its own iTunes music service. But the success of other popular iPhone music systems such as Pandora, Last.fm, and Slacker, may have opened the door for subscription services as well, according to a CNET story.
If the Rhapsody app is approved by Apple, which is anything but a certainty, it won’t likely be be the only such service after a short while. Competing services such as Spotify have previewed similar applications, and one would think that Napster would surely want to get in on the action as well. The real question is whether real-world users will find subscription music services to be a worthwhile commodity. With free, ad-supported services such as Pandora already dominating the music sector, it remains to be seen whether Rhapsody can convince prospective customers to spend close to $15 a month for even unlimited on-demand music streaming. It’s a gamble, but one from which Apple could learn much by approving and monitoring the Rhapsody app, something which might serve to get Apple in on the subscription game as well.
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