Cloud-based music lockers are all of the rage these days, with Google and Amazon.com recently launching new services and Apple reportedly planning to roll out its own offering in the coming weeks. But Rhapsody has a message for those “upstarts,” and it goes something like this: You’re about 10 years behind the curve. Rhapsody today put out a tongue-in-cheek press release which touted its launch of Super Locker — “back in 2001.”

“Imagine a service where you can access virtually any song you want, or will ever want, anywhere, on any device,” Rhapsody’s Brendan Benzing notes in the release. “Dare to dream of a time when your music library anticipates your every musical whim, and is then organized by music experts into radio stations and playlists. You’re not in the future—this is Rhapsody, in 2001!”

Rhapsody — which spun off from RealNetworks last year and now employs about 150 people — certainly was ahead of its time. And there’s some evidence that, under the direction of president Jon Irwin, that the company is regaining its footing despite increased competition. (It recently surpassed 750,000 subscribers who pay between $10 to $15 per month for the service)

In fact, today’s press release addresses some of the new entrants in a different tone as well with Benzing noting that they are actually excited to see Google and Amazon enter the market. He says:

“Ultimately, we believe that these services will not replace fully-licensed subscription music services because they do not deliver the value that a service like Rhapsody does: access to all the music you want, anywhere, on any device, without the hassle of having to keep track of the files and manage them.  The latest developments around music in the cloud are a testament to the vision upon which Rhapsody has built a healthy and growing business over the past 10 years: unbridled, secure access to millions of licensed tracks and music discovery tools. We expect to benefit from the increased awareness and adoption of cloud-based music services that will result from these new initiatives, as Rhapsody already offers members the ultimate locker service.”

Not quite sure how to take that message. Oftentimes, companies respond to very large competitors by sheepishly saying that the new threat simply validates the market. That could be one read.

Or, on the other hand, Rhapsody might be so supremely confident in its abilities to fend off the likes of Amazon and Google that it’s just poking a little fun at its new rivals.

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