Tuesday, April 26, 2005
REAL's RHAPSODY, REBORN: (Free) MUSIC TO YOUR EARS?
A New Business Model For REAL?
by Don Rose
Seems REAL NETWORKS has decided to do something potentially revolutionary on this, the 10th anniversary of its launch, way back in the embryonic 'net days of 1995. Here is the (New) Deal:
You can now get "free music" every month (see below).
Over a million songs to choose from.
Download Rhapsody software - FREE.
(They are calling it the "Digital Music Revolution".)
No credit card required. No commitment.
"Sponsor: Chrysler" (ahh, so maybe this is an AD based biz model now? At least in part?)
Here's what their "Digital Music Revolution" brings you, according to Real:
* "Hours of free music every month
* Your choice of 1,000,000+ songs
* Completely ad-free radio stations
* Software to manage all your music
* The power to mix and burn CDs"
See their website, www.real.com , to check out the fine print.
By digging further on their site, I found some more details:
"Download Rhapsody’s revolutionary jukebox software and get hours of on-demand plays every month from our million+ song Rhapsody® library, plus a lot more – with no credit card or commitment required.
--Complete jukebox software
--Free radio stations
--No monthly fee
--CD burning
--Music transfer to 100+ devices
--Playlist sharing in Playlist Central"
And more details:
| "Create a Rhapsody account and get all the great features of our player software. No credit card required and nothing to cancel. | ||
| If you like what you hear you can upgrade anytime for unlimited access to our entire music catalog of over 1 million songs. | ||
| Your FREE Rhapsody account includes: | ||
 | Complete Music Management Software | |
| 25 Ad-Free Radio Stations | |
| One-click music store access | |
| 25 free song plays each and every month" | |
 | ||
| Available in the US only. | ||
So, in summary, it seems the big news here is the "no credit card or commitment" part to get rolling with Rhapsody, and the chance to enjoy 25 free songs each month -- all as enticement to get you to eventually upgrade and pay per month to rent songs in an "all you can eat" model (which Napster has been promoting heavily as of late). In other words, Real is betting that, to paraphrase an old Lay's Potato Chip campaign, "bet you can't eat just 25". Real's announcement today could be quite a development in the ongoing music downloading saga, and seems well worth checking out.
