Rhapsody Giveaways sixty-Day Trial before Rumored Spotify U.S. Launch
Feb. 12, 2011, 11:16
Rhapsody is giving away Sixty day free trials of their on-demand music service in the joint promotion with MTV. The move could help Rhapsody keep its market lead prior to the rumored release of European membership service Spotify inside U.S.
MTV mommy Viacom would be a part who owns Rhapsody (as well as RealNetworks) until last April, in the event the company went independent. Contained in the spin-out, MTV dedicated $33 million in totally free advertising for Rhapsody.
The brand new promotion will probably be advertised on MTV shows including "Jersey Shore," as well as on other Viacom properties like Comedy Central.
Rhapsody has won about 100,000 members since becoming independent, getting it look out onto its 2008 peak of 750,000. Spotify has on the same number of paying subscribers, plus an incredible number of free users. Spotify has signed relates to two of the four major labels necessary for a U.S. start.
Rhapsody also faces competition from startups like Rdio and MOG; another competitor, Thumbplay Music, was acquired by radio giant Clear Channel yesterday. Yahoo is also about to release some sort of music service, however it will probably be devoted to individual song downloads an internet-based storage as opposed to on-demand streaming like Rhapsody.