Rhapsody Joins the No DRM Bandwagon

[Chris Gohlke]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/06/rhapsody-to-sel.html' target='_blank'>http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/06...ody-to-sel.html</a><br /><br /></div><em>&quot;As of today, you no longer have to use the Rhapsody application to purchase music from the company, and all of the single song downloads in its store are available as unprotected MP3s. Rhapsody's offering differs from that of Amazon MP3 because prospective buyers can preview full tracks -- up to 25 of them per month -- before deciding whether or not to purchase them on Rhapsody or one of its partner sites. The new service will roll out to Rhapsody's new partners as well, iLike, MTV Networks and Yahoo.&quot;<br /><br /></em><img border="1" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1214920637.usr10.jpg" alt="" /><br /><br />With this move Rhapsody has a lot to offer.&nbsp; Subscription services, check.&nbsp; Non-DRM'd MP3's, check.&nbsp; Useful partners, check.&nbsp; I'll be interested to see how iLike works out as I think a music store integrated into Facebook could do pretty well.

[txa1265]

I think this is interesting - the record companies flocked to Apple when iTunes looked to be a way to stem rampant piracy ... then when Apple wouldn't let them screw consumers by raising prices, they got upset and are now working with others looking to get into the download biz by offering unprotected MP3's to everyone BUT Apple. It is actually possible that there is anti-competitive stuff at play here, as it is forbidden to punish with non-sale of product. But aside from that, what are they going to do when (a) they *still* can't raise prices and (b) piracy goes back up again?

[Jason Dunn]

Well, as per usual they're blocking Canada...but I ran the Ultrasurf Proxy Client (http://www.ultrareach.com/company/download.htm) and was able to get a free album. Cool. :D

[Jason Dunn]

I think this is interesting - the record companies flocked to Apple when iTunes looked to be a way to stem rampant piracy ... then when Apple wouldn't let them screw consumers by raising prices, they got upset and are now working with others looking to get into the download biz by offering unprotected MP3's to everyone BUT Apple.

I have a different take on this: Apple is the middle-man, the distributor. If the record companies want to change their pricing, Apple should let them. Apple doesn't control the product, they should have no input on pricing - other than to advise the owners of the content what they think the market will bear. It's not like I *want* to pay more than 99 cents for a track, but if the record companies want to charge $1.49 for new tracks and 49 cents for old tracks, I think that's a valid business model.

Ultimately iTunes has too much power to control the market and I welcome any competitor that will improve the situation.

[Jason Dunn]

Well, as per usual they're blocking Canada...but I ran the Ultrasurf Proxy Client (http://www.ultrareach.com/company/download.htm) and was able to get a free album. Cool. :D

Looks like I spoke too soon: I was able to create an account, put an album in my cart, get it for free, but the ZIP file I downloaded isn't valid. I've emailed customer support and hopefully they can help me out...I'm not going to buy any tracks unless I'm sure I can actually get them. I downloaded and installed the Rhapsody downloader as well and it didn't help.

[Jason Dunn]

I continue explaining my saga as a service to others who are outside the US: I tried downloading again, this time using IE without the proxy...and I was able to get the five tracks from the album that didn't download previously. So that means something about the proxy server client was corrupting the ZIP file - which is very odd. Rhapsody seems to have no allowance for a re-download. I've emailed customer service, hopefully they can help. It looks like I can purchase tracks now that my account is created, though I can't stream audio samples. Ah the perils of being a Canadian trying to get services from the US. :cool:

[txa1265]

Interesting article (http://www.last100.com/2008/07/03/how-to-tune-up-a-tone-deaf-rhapsody/) - talking about MTV as irrelevant, Rhapsody as having no brand and seeming generic, and so on.

On the other hand ... they are offering the 4-CD 'Herbie Han**** Box' for $1, as opposed to $50 on Amazon (~$25 on Amazon MP3) ... it is blocked at work so I'll grab it when I get home. Heck, I have 75% of the songs, but $1 for the dozen or so I don't?

And Jason - I think that we actually agree on Apple having too much power here, which I attribute to the iPod / iTunes 'duopoly'. At the same time, it was that same 'duopoly' that the record industry flocked to when they were in trouble and was largely responsible for the advent of legit MP3's and the reduction in rampant piracy (not that it doesn't still exist, mind you).

The one thing that you said that gave me pause was implying that the record companies would charge less than 99 cents for any song. That is either naive or just wishful thinking - *every* dealing and struggle they've had with Apple, and the true reason they are playing ball with Amazon and Rhapsody and so on, has to do with a desire to increase prices.

In my opinion, without Jobs pushing them to hold down prices, we'd be paying >$20 per album, only having access to certain songs, and the singles we could get would be priced at $3 like on cell phones. ... and the sales would be in the toilet as people said 'NFW', went back to pirating, and the industry pushed to get kids arrested and treated like violent criminals for downloading a few songs.

[txa1265]

Well, that free $10 deal is great - I grabbed the 4CD Herbie box, and also picked up Steve Reich's 'Works' - 117 song history of minimalist music - for a total of 99 cents!~

[Jason Dunn]

The one thing that you said that gave me pause was implying that the record companies would charge less than 99 cents for any song. That is either naive or just wishful thinking - *every* dealing and struggle they've had with Apple, and the true reason they are playing ball with Amazon and Rhapsody and so on, has to do with a desire to increase prices.

Well, charging less for older music was something that the record companies said they wanted to go if memory serves - but you're right, they could have just been blowing smoke. I guess we'll never really know, unless they try to do something similar with Amazon or Rhapsody.