You’ve Got to Approve Rhapsody for iPhone, Steve. Don’t Be Pigheaded…Ow! Hey! Stop Hitting Me!
by John Paczkowski
Posted on August 24, 2009 at 3:47 PM PT
RealNetworks has submitted to Apple a free application that will bring its $15-a-month Rhapsody subscription music service to anyone with an iPhone or iPod touch and an EDGE, 3G, or Wi-Fi connection–assuming it’s approved by Apple, which is anything but a sure thing at this point.
Historically, Apple (AAPL) has shunned subscription music services, and fearing they might compete for dollars best spent on iTunes, made it impossible for them to interoperate with the iPod. A few months back, Apple would have likely done the same with Rhapsody, if only to tweak Real Networks (RNWK) CEO Rob Glaser, who infamously disparaged CEO Steve Jobs for his “pigheadedness” at the Digital Living Conference in 2005.
But things are a bit different today. With the Federal Communications Commission’s inquiry into Apple’s rejection continuing consideration of Google Voice for iPhone still fresh in its mind and the outcome of that inquiry still undetermined, Apple might be a bit more inclined to allow Rhapsody into the App Store. It certainly can’t withhold it by claiming it replaces core iPhone functions, as it did with the Google (GOOG) app.
And so we find Apple in a uniquely uncomfortable spot: Accept into the App Store an on-demand streaming music application that will compete for the attention of iTunes users or reject it and suffer further unwanted scrutiny by the FCC, not to mention a nasty public relations nightmare.
Comments
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“accept into the App Store an on-demand streaming music application that will” probably impact Apple’s revenue stream by a whole $1K per month.
This app is more likely to increase iPod/iPhone sales than it is to reduce iTunes sales.
Posted by Dave Barnes at August 24th, 2009 at 4:29 pmI doubt that there are very many iPhone and iPod users with an interest in Rhapsody. Rob Glaser would subscribe but I don’t know that anyone else would. Let them in Apple. They’re harmless.
Posted by Dave Small at August 24th, 2009 at 5:31 pmApple already allows Pandora so Rhapsody isn’t much different.
Didn’t they even promote iHeartRadio on a TV ad?
Posted by Greg Carrier at August 25th, 2009 at 5:53 am