Rhapsody and Napster announced today that the company has over 2.5 million paid subscribers worldwide. The company’s premium music streaming has been steadily rising, and Rhapsody has accumulated a sixty percent increase over the past year. Rhapsody attributes the company’s rapid growth to its newly formed partnerships with some of the world’s largest wireless providers, auto manufacturers, and the launch of their innovative Internet radio products.
On-demand streaming has become increasingly popular, and most people are using their mobile device to stream music online. According to Rhapsody, their members are listening to more than five million hours of music per week. More than eighty-eight percent of their listeners use the Rhapsody app to listen to music, and seventy percent of music listeners use their mobile devices. Surprisingly, only nineteen percent of users were streaming music on their mobile devices a year ago. “Our decision to prioritize the mobile music experience is paying off. We’re seeing a fast-paced transition toward mobile-only listening throughout our global base of members,” said Rhapsody’s Chief Financial Officer Ethan Rudin. Rudin also said they plan on continuing their relationships with their wireless and auto partners. “Over the next six months, we plan to continue to extend relationships with our wireless, auto and connected device partners to ensure we deliver experiences that make streaming music an essential part of daily life,” Rudin explained.
Napster’s global partnership with Telefonica successfully launched in Germany, Brazil, and all across the Latin American region. Napster and Telefonica launched a major campaign in Chile last year, and the two companies plan to add more features for their users this year. Napster continues to expand its growth due to the company’s European partnerships, primarily with SFR and Vodafone. Along with the growth of its wireless partnerships, Napster will expand the company’s auto partnerships too. The company just announced its partnership with Audi, which will integrate the music service into select Audi models.
Rhapsody and T-Mobile introduced their innovative Internet radio service, unRadio. The new music service eliminates the biggest customer pain points associated with traditional Internet radio. The radio service offers listeners music streaming that is ad free, and users can choose the songs they listen to. Unlike traditional Internet radio, unRadio also has a song replay feature. “We wanted to bring the Un-Carrier approach to Internet radio by creating a service that puts music listeners in control and gives them a totally uninterrupted, ad-free experience,” said T-Mobile’s Chief Marketing Officer, Mike Sievert. Rhapsody International is the parent company of leading streaming music services Rhapsody and Napster. The music services are now available in more than thirty countries across the US, Europe, and Latin America. Rhapsody and Napster gives their members ad-free access to more than thirty-four million songs.