Rhapsody (online music service)

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Rhapsody
Rhapsody 4.0 under Windows XP
Maintainer:	RealNetworks
Stable release:	4.0 (October 6, 2006) _[+/-]
Preview release:	none (none) _[+/-]
OS:	Windows 2000/XP, Mac OS X, Linux
Use:	Media player
License:	Proprietary
Website:	www.rhapsody.com

Rhapsody is an online music service run by RealNetworks. Launched in December 2001, Rhapsody 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.

1 History
2 Features
3 Limitations
4 Success
5 Harmony
6 External links

[edit] History

While at TuneTo.com in 1999, Tim Bratton, JP Lester, Sylvain Rebaud, Alexandre Brouaux, Nick Sincaglia and Dave Lampton were working on a streaming audio engine which allowed for remarkably high quality audio streaming. This engine was commercially deployed in the TuneTo.com customized radio service, and was also used in their "celestial jukebox" prototype code named Aladdin.

In April 2001 TuneTo.com was acquired by Listen.com, a startup founded in San Francisco that had built a massive online music directory. The Aladdin prototype was transformed into the Rhapsody music service and was launched in December 2001. It was revolutionary at the time because it was the first streaming on-demand music subscription service to offer unlimited access to the entire library of digital music, which at the time was comprised mostly of content from EMI and Naxos. Over the next few months content from other major labels was added to the library. In July of 2002 Rhapsody became the first on-demand music service to offer the complete digital catalogs of all five major record labels of the time (Sony, EMI, BMG, Universal and Warner).

RealNetworks acquired Listen.com on August 3, 2003. The Rhapsody service was briefly known as RealRhapsody shortly after the acquisition, but has since shortened back to "Rhapsody".

In 2006, Rhapsody sued Power Metal band Rhapsody for stealing their name, even though the band Rhapsody had been around years before the music company Rhapsody had. The band Rhapsody were forced to change their name to Rhapsody Of Fire because of this.

[edit] Features

Rhapsody exists as two different services with different featuresets, the Rhapsody.com streaming service and the Rhapsody Jukebox player.

Rhapsody has browsing features similar to other competitors, such as the ability to search by Artist, Album, Track, Composer, or Videos, as well as a Keyword search that attempts all of the above. Users are also able to browse through links to Artist Influences, Contemporaries, or Related Projects, as well as through multiple Genre hierarchies.

[edit] Purchase Options

Rhapsody's main focus is on an a la carte subscription jukebox model, although it also supports per-track purchases. There are three main subscription plans: Rhapsody 25, Rhapsody Unlimited, and Rhapsody To Go.

Rhapsody 25 is free and ad-supported version, but only allows 25 free streams per month and access to a few selected radio stations.

Rhapsody Unlimited is a paid subscription at $9.99 per month and allows unlimited streams of most songs in its catalogue, as well as access to all radio stations and the option for user-generated radio stations. Rhapsody Unlimited subscribers using the Jukebox software are also able to download an unlimited number of tracks to their computers. Because the user does not own these tracks they are not permitted to burn them or transfer them to portable devices, and Rhapsody's software makes it difficult to do so.

Rhapsody To Go is also a paid subscription at $14.99 per month and offers the same features as Rhapsody Unlimited plus the ability for users to transfer an unlimited amount of music to compatible Rhapsody DNA and PlaysForSure portable devices without purchasing on a per-track basis.

Tracks purchased on an individual or album basis generally tend to cost 99¢ each or $9.99 per album, depending on the agreement with the label. Paid subscribers are given a 10% discount on purchased music.

[edit] Rhapsody.com

Rhapsody.com is a web, streaming-only version of Rhapsody that is compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux and Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari web browsers. It is installed through a browser plugin. Tracks are not purchaseable through Rhapsody.com, nor are PlaysForSure transfers possible.

[edit] Jukebox Software

The Jukebox software contains all the features of the web-based version, but also some other additional features:

10-EQ band - allows you to tweak the sound of the music
Shuffle Play - Play randomly tracks
Continuous Play - loop tracks
Playlist editor
CD Burner and Ripper

[edit] Other Features

Pricing:
- Rhapsody 25: Free
- Rhapsody Unlimited: $9.99/mo
- Rhapsody to Go: $14.99/mo
Platform(s): Windows 98 and later for Rhapsody Jukebox

Microsoft Windows, Linux or Mac OS X for Rhapsody Web

Downloading: U.S. $0.89 per track, 192kbps WMA
Pricing: U.S. $0.89 per track, 192kbps AAC
Streaming: 128kbps WMA
- Rhapsody 25: Limited to 25 streams per month
- Rhapsody Unlimited/Rhapsody to Go: Unlimited per month
Radio
- Rhapsody 25: Unlimited access to select pre-defined stations
- Rhapsody Unlimited/to Go: Unlimited access to all stations and user-created stations
Format(s): Windows Media (proprietary), AAC
Digital Rights Management: yes
Preview: 30 seconds when using the service as a non-subscriber
- Rhapsody 25: when not signed in, or when all 25 song plays have been used (Rhapsody 25 only)
Trial:
- Rhapsody 25: 25 song plays/month, indefinitely. 30 second samples thereafter.
- Rhapsody Unlimited: 14 day trial, one per account.
Catalog: 2,000,000 + songs as of August 22, 2006
Availability: US residents only, due to licensing restrictions.

[edit] Limitations

Service is only available in the United States, its territories, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau.
Downloaded songs are encrypted with Helix DRM.
The audio is stored in a lossy format that can't be re-recorded without some noticeable drop in quality.
Music licensing agreements Rhapsody maintains with major record labels means that the database of available music is subject to change at any time.
Licensing is usually done by track and album, meaning that some tracks may be licensed for purchase only.
Subscription cancellation must be done by phone (toll-free) at 1-866-597-5465 (9am-9pm ET Monday-Friday, 10:30am-8pm ET weekends).
Does not support installation on any Vista machine
Has numerous bugs with IE7

[edit] Success

As of Februrary 2007, RealNetworks claims more than 2.25 million subscribers of whom more than 1.4 million are music subscribers [1].

[edit] Harmony

Rhapsody customers using the Jukebox client may use the Harmony plug-in by RealNetworks to convert tracks purchased from the Rhapsody service into FairPlay AAC files for use on Apple's iPod line of digital audio players. Apple has countered this feature by modifying the firmware on certain iPods to prevent playback of these converted files without affecting tracks purchased via Apple's iTunes Music Store. Real has responded by continually modifying the Harmony plug-in to restore compatibility. There is an article on The Register tracing the origins of this battle.