Posts by Michael Gartenberg from June 30, 2008

Michael Gartenberg | June 30, 2008, 12:28 AM
Real takes Rhapsody DRM free, launches deal with Verizon - First Take

News from the folks at Real that Rhapsody will be going DRM free, but only for songs purchased. The subscription content will still be protected. Good move for Real but somewhat late. While there's some nice stuff, such as the ability to listen to 25 tracks per month free, lack of DRM will not change the game immediately. Amazon has been there for a while now and hasn't made much of a dent against iTunes. At the end of the day, DRM just doesn't matter that much to most consumers and devices still drive users to the store or service. For the most part, that's going to be iTunes.

Which gets to the more interesting news, the Verizon partnership yielding fruit with a $15 a month service on several Verizon phones. This is where the subscription model can perhaps finally find a mainstream audience. More importantly, it's a differentiated offering that can potentially have some appeal. A lot depends on how much time they take to educate the market. Less thrilling is the $2.00 OTA price for buying a song. (even with a DRM free MP3 copy as well). Most folks will likely just wait until they can get to their PCs to purchase.

Overall, it's nice to see Real get on board and with DRM free content, there's at least a story to tell to iPod customers. It will be important for Real to make sure can get the integration right (as Amazon has done) and work to get the word out. Execution here will have a lot to do with how cool the phones are that support the service and how well VZW and Real do marketing and explaining how subscriptions and music ownership can co exist.