Posts Tagged ‘rhapsody’

Will we miss the iconic site? Some former users may have forgotten that it was still around. Some users may not be surprise that Napster is being gobbled up by Rhapsody.

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Who would’ve thought, all those years ago, that Napster would go on to change hands more than a well-worn penny over the years. Well, maybe a lot of people with astounding foresight into the music industry’s future would have  . . . but that’s besides the point. The latest news regarding Shawn Fanning’s baby is Rhapsody‘s impending acquisition of Napster, a business deal that will see the Headphoned Kitten sharing its customers with the notable social music site.

The recently signed agreement between Napster and Rhapsody will give the latter company access to the former’s subscribers and “certain other assets”. In return, Best Buy (which Napster is considered a unit of) will receive a minority stake in Rhapsody — something that could lead to substantial changes for the music service and its users in the near future.

Jon Irwin, Rhapsody’s president, expects the deal to “further Rhapsody’s lead over [its] competitors in the growing on-demand music market.”

It could very well do just that.

Rhapsody’s acquistion will give both company’s access to Napster’s existing subscriber base and the ability to bring together vastly different lessons for achieving success in the digital music marketplace. Rhapsody and Napster users can expect to see a big difference in the way they experience their services of choice later this fall as the companies begin to implement new business practices that take advantage of one another’s respective strengths. Whatever the result of the acquisition, observers can look forward to a substantial shake-up from two key industry players before long.

The agreement was announced today (Monday, October 3rd) with the actual deal expected to close at the end of November of this year.

You can even customize your status to reflect your music mood, and create your own URL to share your profile with others. Because nearly all the profile information is based on playback within Rhapsody, creating a new profile took me practically seconds. Members can also choose to remain anonymous, and opt out at any time.

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Not too long ago everyone was pretty excited about the debut of Google Music: then we got Music Beta by Google and, while it wasn’t terrible, it also wasn’t much of a pay-off for years of patience. If you’re not paying much attention to the service’s continued evolution it seems you’re not alone. So, to combat flagging interest, Google has launched Magnifier, a music blog/Music Beta hype machine and provider of some complementary tunes.

Magnifier seems, first and foremost, to be an attempt at putting Google Music back into the minds of a somewhat disinterested public — but it’s also looking to make itself a source of general music information by providing artist and music reviews, history and more. It ties in Google+ accounts as well so those who have transferred their loyalty to Google’s social network may be more likely to get on board with its use.

Google recruited Tim Quirk (whose credits include being the former VP of Rhapsody) to help design Magnifier and his innovative thinking shows. The most interesting aspect of the blog is its integration of Music Beta, something that very well could help reignite the service’s popularity. Magnifier lets you read about, say, its “Song of the Day” then click a button that adds it to your library for (free) listening. Users must have an account to take advantage of this, of course, so if Magnifier catches on we could very well see Music Beta increasing its traffic in the near future.

Google Magnifier only recently launched so there isn’t a ton of content to look through but, if you’re interested in seeing what’s up with the blog then take a click to see it for yourself.

When a product delivers what it promises, and exceeds your expectations, why on earth would you consider replacing it?

As a long-time Rhapsody subscriber, that’s exactly what I find myself asking as I read about the launch of MOG, a pay online music service that touts itself as being better than iTunes, Pandora and the aforementioned Rhapsody – combined! Read more