rhapsody

Popular music subscription service Rhapsody today brings its library of tracks to Android tablets running Honeycomb.

While Rhapsody has long been a fixture as a music player on many Android phones and the iPhone, today's newly released app was specifically created for tablets. And different from the iPad app, it's not simply a scaled-up version of its smaller-screen counterpart. According to Chief Product Officer Brendan Benzing, the folks at Rhapsody "re-imagined the entire experience" in order to take advantage of the extra screen real estate of a tablet and the capabilities of the Android Honeycomb OS. … Read more

Rhapsody has capped off a big year by going bald.

The streaming-music company announced today that it now has over 1 million paid subscribers. Its growth has pushed the average number of songs played per day to 10 million, the company added.

To celebrate the achievement, Rhapsody President Jon Irwin shaved his head to make good on his promise to employees if the company hit 1 million paid subscribers.

"We've accomplished quite a bit over the past decade, so it's no small statement to say that 2011 was probably our biggest year yet," Irwin said in … Read more

This is the second time in a decade that the Internet has written a eulogy for Napster.

The service, which in a former iteration frustrated the music industry via peer-to-peer file sharing, was absorbed today in a takeover by a rival music service. In a deal first reported by CNET in October, Rhapsody agreed to acquire Napster's subscribers and assets.

The pioneering file-sharing service's software, created in 1999 by 19-year-old student Shawn Fanning, enabled users to swap MP3 files with each across the Internet for free. But that activity cut into the profits of the recording industry and … Read more

Some recent headlines about Spotify and other music subscription services make it sound like Armageddon.

But it's not, or not yet at least.

Several media outlets are reporting that 200 music labels are pulling out of Spotify. A Spotify representative was not immediately available for confirmation.

While the number 200 sounds like a lot, these are smallish independent dance labels from Great Britain that are highly unlikely to impact Spotify's business or bottom line in any meaningful way.

Spotify continues to offer music from the four major record companies as well as most of the large indies. The … Read more

Coldplay and singer Tom Waits last week issued no-confidence votes on subscription music services, or at least that's how the press is interpreting their decision not to distribute their latest albums through companies such as Spotify, Rhapsody, Rdio, and MOG.

On Wednesday, CNET broke the news that Coldplay and Waits will follow other marquee acts, such as Adele and Prince, who have withheld at least part of their catalogs from some of the subscription services. Management for Coldplay and Waits did not respond to interview requests. So, while we don't know for sure why they chose to snub … Read more

YouTube may start releasing its own original content, Coldplay gives a cold shoulder to music streaming, and Sony pays Ericsson to take over the handset business.

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Coldplay, one of the world's biggest music acts, has declined to offer songs from the band's new album "Mylo Xyloto," to streaming services such as Spotify, Rdio and Rhapsody, multiple sources told CNET.

EMI, the band's record label, acknowledged that Coldplay, known for such songs as "Yellow" and "Clocks," will not distribute through streaming services for "Mylo Xyloto," but did not detail the reasons for the decision. "We always work with our artists and management on a case by case basis to deliver the best outcome for each … Read more

Rhapsody, one of the oldest Web subscription music services, has made it official. The company has acquired Napster subscribers and other assets from Best Buy, while the electronics retailer will obtain a minority stake in Rhapsody, the companies said today.

In a deal first reported by CNET, the acquisition is expected to close on November 30, the companies said in a press release. Best Buy appears to be unloading a music service that struggled prior to being acquired by the merchant and seemed only to have disappear after.

The financial terms of the deal were not fully disclosed. Nonetheless, it … Read more

Following reports yesterday that suggested Facebook would use its upcoming F8 developers conference to announce some sort of music and/or video service, The New York Times says it has confirmed the service with anonymous industry sources, and the paper has provided some details on how the new service will look.

Yesterday, Dutch entrepreneur and developer Yvo Schaap spied a clue in the HTML for the Web sites of Spotify, Rhapsody, and several other major music services that pointed to some type of custom Facebook format. Meanwhile, The New York Post reported that Hulu and Facebook would announce at this … Read more