Yahoo! to Exclusively Offer and Promote Rhapsody for On-Demand Music
Services, Advancing Its Starting Point Strategy
SUNNYVALE, Calif. and SEATTLE, Feb. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Yahoo!
(Nasdaq: YHOO) and Rhapsody(R) America, the award winning digital music
service of RealNetworks(R) (RNWK) and Viacom's (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) MTV
Networks, today announced a broad strategic relationship in digital music.
Rhapsody will be the exclusive on-demand music service for Yahoo!,
replacing Yahoo! Music Unlimited. Yahoo! and Rhapsody also intend to
collaborate on other digital music services such as music downloads. The
partnership introduces Rhapsody's award-winning subscription music service
to the largest online music audience through Yahoo! Music and reinforces
Yahoo!'s focus on providing users with a destination to easily access the
best music services and content from across the web.
In the coming months, Yahoo! Music Unlimited subscribers will be
migrated to Rhapsody's digital music service through a simple process that
will convert Yahoo! Music Unlimited subscribers' music libraries to
Rhapsody. Current Yahoo! Music subscribers will have the opportunity to
maintain their existing pricing tiers for a limited time period after
migration to the Rhapsody service. Additional details will be communicated
to Yahoo! Music subscribers closer to the date when account migration
begins.
"By partnering with Yahoo!, we are connecting Rhapsody's 'jukebox in
the sky' with one of the biggest music audiences on the web," said Rob
Glaser, chairman and CEO of RealNetworks. "Soon, tens of millions of Yahoo
users will be able to access their favorite music through Rhapsody -
wherever they go, whenever they want it."
"This agreement allows Yahoo! to continue its focus on being the
Internet's leading starting point by creating an indispensable music
experience that will drive music fans to Yahoo! first on their path to
music discovery," said Scott Moore, Senior Vice President and Head of
Media, Yahoo!.
The partnership coincides with an announcement by Yahoo! that it has
acquired FoxyTunes, the company that developed a popular toolbar plug-in
that enables users to control more than 30 desktop and Web-based music
players. FoxyTunes also allows users to easily find lyrics, videos, bios
and more, based on what is currently playing in a user's media player. By
giving Yahoo! users an easy and agnostic tool with which to control and
play music, FoxyTunes' functionality across multiple music sources and
services also furthers Yahoo!'s goal to be more open. To read more about
this announcement, please visit Yahoo!'s corporate blog at yodel.yahoo.com.
"Our partnership with Rhapsody, the acquisition of FoxyTunes and the
release of the web-based Yahoo! Media Player moves Yahoo! Music closer to
our goal of enabling users to play all of the music on the Web," said Ian
Rogers, Vice President of Video and Media Applications, Yahoo!. "But, it
doesn't end there, Yahoo! Music will continue to innovate and forge new
ways to marry music content with the rich content of the Internet."
"Rhapsody connects fans with more music, in more ways and through more
devices than any other on-demand music service," said Neil Smith, Vice
President of Marketing for Rhapsody America. "As an unlimited access, on-
demand service, Rhapsody is a perfect complement to Yahoo!'s vibrant Yahoo!
Music site."
Rhapsody delivers five million songs a day to music lovers through more
consumer touch points than any other service. Through partnerships with
industry leaders like TiVo, Philips, SanDisk, Logitech and Sonos, Rhapsody
has created a complete digital music experience on the PC, throughout the
home and on the go. Rhapsody offers consumers unlimited access to millions
of songs, professionally programmed music channels and exclusive content
from MTV Networks' premier MTV, VH1 and CMT music brands.
About Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most
trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo! is focused on powering
its communities of users, advertisers, publishers, and developers by
creating indispensable experiences built on trust. Yahoo! is headquartered
in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit pressroom.yahoo.com
or the company's blog, Yodel Anecdotal.
About Rhapsody
Rhapsody (http://www.rhapsody.com) offers an integrated and immersive digital
music experience accessible to consumers via their computer, portable music
device and soon their mobile phone. Rhapsody is the exclusive digital music
service for RealNetworks and for MTV Networks' music and pop-culture brands
in the United States. Rhapsody is a service of Rhapsody America LLC, a
joint venture between RealNetworks (Nasdaq: RNWK) and MTV Networks, a unit
of Viacom (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B).
SOURCE RealNetworks
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Related links:
http://www.realnetworks.com
http://www.rhapsody.com
CONTACT:
Ronda Scott of Rhapsody|RealNetworks,
+1-415-934-2016, rscott@real.com; or Carrie Davis of Yahoo!,
+1-310-907-3774, carried@yahoo-inc.com
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