Webware

Rhapsody, the subscription music service owned by RealNetworks, has teamed up with music blog network and social networking site Mog.com to provide, well, music.

Through this partnership, songs mentioned on Mog's blogs are accompanied by a yellow "play" button that allows users to access the full-length streaming file through Rhapsody, which offers a total of about 4.5 million independent and major-label songs in its catalog. "We couldn't be more excited to have Rhapsody enabling music listening on MOG," Mog founder and CEO David Hyman said in a joint press release. "With today's release, MOG has put more key pieces in place towards its goal of building the ultimate online music community."

Rhapsody's full-length song playback is also now integrated into Mog's "Mog-o-Matic" downloadable music discovery software, creating playlists of recommended music based on what you play on your computer or portable music player. It's social, too--you can listen to not only your playlist, but also those created by members of your friends' list on Mog. In addition, Mog users can create custom playlists of Rhapsody songs, much like Imeem's streaming lineups.

New versions of Mog-o-Matic have been released in conjunction for both the Mac and Windows operating systems; the company touts them as faster, more efficient, and more stable. At the same time, Mog has souped up its music search feature, redesigned its artist and album pages, and tweaked its page layout.

But don't hold your breath--this Rhapsody-Mog deal isn't free. Mog members can access the Rhapsody streaming songs for a 14-day free trial, after which point they have to sign up for Rhapsody's subscription service ($12.99 per month) or a 25-songs-per-month deal.

Rhapsody's subscription-based music service has, thus far, proven unable to compete with Apple's ubiquitous iTunes. As a result, the RealNetworks-owned service has attempted to compete by forging partnerships across the digital-media landscape: an impending music store deal with MTV Networks and an appearance on TiVo set-top boxes, for example.

Unfortunately for Rhapsody, it still hasn't been able to create much of a dent in the iTunes arsenal. Nevertheless, the deals keep rolling in.

Click me to check out the new Napster interface.

Other than its first reported quarter of positive cash flow, Napster has enjoyed a relatively unremarkable year--at least on the surface. It is now apparent, however, that plenty of tinkering has been going on in the background.

The company on Tuesday announced a fairly significant redesign to its music service and software. The new Napster, version 4, is lighter and a bit simpler--and it definitely appears to take some cues from RealNetworks' Rhapsody.

Of particular note are the launch of a Web-based version of the service, which will enable Mac and Linux users to join in the fun, and the addition of the Automix feature, a new music discovery tool.

I could go on to list all the details in long and boring fashion, but a picture (actually, 22 pictures) is worth a thousand words--wouldn't you agree? Check out our slide show for an up-close and personal look at Napster 4.0.

AOL. Napster. Partnership. Imagine if those three words had been put together in a sentence way back in 1999. It would've been something out of The Onion: AOL was the massive, dominant corporate giant, and Napster was pretty much a bunch of punks who were raising hell. But times change, and companies change, and today AOL has announced that it has inked a deal with the music subscription service--formerly synonymous with cyber-piracy--as the power behind the download service on its AOL Music site.

Napster will be replacing the AOL MusicNow subscription download service, which AOL had been operating since its acquisition of MusicNow in late 2005. The transition is expected to be complete within 60 days, according to an AOL press release. Current AOL MusicNow subscribers will be sent e-mails informing them of the switch, and will have the choice to opt out. AOL also is hoping for a seamless transition: current members will have their usernames, passwords, music libraries, and playlists preserved. If all goes as planned, that is.

It's interesting: my impression is that nowadays a copyright-infringement playground like the former Napster would immediately be seen as a potential partner or acquisition for a major company like AOL, and we would be seeing deals like this one made much earlier in the company's history. Just look at Google's purchase of YouTube, and the subsequent partnerships with major TV networks that have been popping up; perhaps a more appropriate example is the major movie studios' deal with BitTorrent. These days, punks raising hell on the Web aren't a bogeyman, they're a lucrative business opportunity. But back in 1999, it seems as though nobody really knew what to do about Napster.

As I said, times change.