Rhapsody makes another run at Apple’s iTunes
Posted by: in Companies Competitive StrategyFiled under: Launches, Consumer experience, Competitive strategy, Yahoo! (YHOO), Apple Inc (AAPL), Viacom (VIA)
Rhapsody, a music download service owned by Real Networks (NASDAQ: RNWK) and Viacom (NYSE: VIA), will make yet another run at Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iTunes. According to Reuters, “Digital music seller Rhapsody is launching a $50 million marketing assault on Apple’s iTunes, offering songs on the internet and via partners including Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Verizon Wireless.”
Why the venture thinks it will have real success is anyone’s guess. Downloading to Verizon Wireless phones is not exactly the kind of novelty that is likely to draw customers. The service will have one important new feature, though. Rhapsody subscribers haven’t been able to play their music on iTunes. Under the new push, that will change.
Memo to Rhapsody: The horse has already left the barn. Keeping the service off of the iPod for so long has helped iTunes move into a unassailable position.
Real Networks, which dominated the multimedia market with its Real Player from the late 1990s until about five years ago, was slaughtered by Apple when it offered a device coupled to a music store with the launch of the iPod.
There’s no catching up now. The race is over.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
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