Rhapsody — one of the pioneers in the online music arena — said today that it has topped two million paying subscribers for its Rhapsody and Napster music services. That’s up from 1.7 million in April, but still well below Spotify which boasted 10 million paying subscribers as of three months ago.
Last month, Rhapsody inked a deal with T-Mobile dubbed Rhapsody unRadio, which allowed music lovers to listen to songs commercial-free for $4.99 per month. That’s half as much as the normal Rhapsody monthly service of $9.99.
The alliance appears to be working, since Seattle-based Rhapsody said today that it plans to enter into partnerships with mobile carriers in Europe and Latin America, including SFR and Telefónica’s Movistar, to make its Napster service available to customers of those companies. SFR, which is France’s second largest mobile carrier, will offer a service dubbed Napster Decouverte to subscribers for $3.95 Euros. Telefónica’s Movistar will promote a Napster Premier service in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.
“Our recently launched radio service underscores our commitment to giving mobile music fans even more ways to discover and download great music,” said Paul Springer, SVP Americas and Chief Product Officer of Rhapsody International.
In an interview with GeekWire earlier this year, Springer noted the competitive landscape for online music service and where he thinks Rhapsody stands.
“It’s really us and Spotify and everyone else,” he said. “We believe strongly we’re clearly No. 2 and everyone else is fighting for No. 3 and we think the next year is going to be when the shakeout happens.”
Founded in 2001, Rhapsody spun off from parent company RealNetworks in 2010.