Citizendia

Rhapsody
Image:Rhapsody logo.png

Rhapsody 4. 0 under Windows XP
Developed byRealNetworks
Initial release ?
Stable release4.0  (2006-10-16) [+/−]
Preview releasenone  (none) [+/−]
Written in ?
OSWindows 2000/XP/Vista (32-bit Only), Linux
Available in ?
GenreMedia player
LicenseProprietary
Websitewww.rhapsody.com

Rhapsody is an online music service run by RealNetworks. A software developer is a person or organization concerned with facets of the software development process wider than design and coding a somewhat broader scope of RealNetworks ( is a provider of Internet media delivery software and services based in Seattle, United States. A software release is the distribution whether public or private of an initial or new and upgraded version of a Computer software product Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 456 - Magister militum Ricimer defeats the Emperor Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the western A software release is the distribution whether public or private of an initial or new and upgraded version of a Computer software product A programming language is an Artificial language that can be used to write programs which control the behavior of a machine particularly a Computer. An operating system (commonly abbreviated OS and O/S) is the software component of a Computer system that is responsible for the management and coordination Windows 2000 (also referred to as Win2K) is a preemptive, interruptible graphical and business-oriented Operating system designed to work with Windows XP is a family of 32-bit and 64-bit Operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on Personal computers including home and Windows Vista (ˈvɪstə is a line of Operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on Personal computers including home and business desktops Linux (commonly pronounced ˈlɪnəks A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them Computer software can be organized into categories based on common function type or field of use Media player is a term typically used to describe Computer software for playing back Multimedia files Most software media players support an array of media A software license (or software licence in commonwealth usage is a Legal instrument governing the usage or redistribution of copyright protected software Proprietary software is Computer software on which the producer has set restrictions on use private modification copying, or republishing. A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages An online music store is an Online business which sells audio files usually music on a per-song and/or subscription basis RealNetworks ( is a provider of Internet media delivery software and services based in Seattle, United States. Launched in December 2001, Rhapsody was the first music service to offer streaming on-demand access to nearly its entire library of digital music. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, RealNetworks' version of digital rights management. Digital rights management ( DRM) is a generic term that refers to Access control technologies used by hardware manufacturers publishers and Copyright holders

Contents

History

In 1999, Tim Bratton, JP Lester, Sylvain Rebaud, Alexandre Brouaux, Nick Sincaglia and Dave Lampton were working on a streaming audio engine which allowed for remarkably high quality audio streaming. This engine was commercially deployed in the TuneTo. com customized radio service, and was also used in their "celestial jukebox" prototype code-named Aladdin (so named because the labels could not put the file-sharing genie back in the bottle and had to try something new).

In April 2001 TuneTo. com was acquired by Listen. com, a startup founded in San Francisco that had built a massive online music directory. The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city The Aladdin prototype was transformed into the Rhapsody music service during the summer and fall of 2001 and was launched on December 3, 2001. Events 1800 - War of the Second Coalition: Battle of Hohenlinden, French Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar.

Rhapsody was revolutionary at the time because it was the first streaming on-demand music subscription service to offer unlimited access to its entire library of digital music for a flat monthly fee. At launch, Rhapsody's library was comprised mostly of content from Naxos and a number of independent labels. Over the next several months of 2002, Rhapsody was able to secure licenses from EMI, BMG, Warner, and Sony to add their music to the Rhapsody library. In July 2002, Rhapsody became the first on-demand music service to offer the complete digital catalogs of all five major record labels of the time (Sony, EMI, BMG, Universal and Warner).

RealNetworks announced plans to acquire Listen. com on April 21, 2003, one week prior to the launch of the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003. Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date) Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1192 - Assassination of Conrad of Montferrat (Conrad I King of Jerusalem, in Tyre, two days after his title Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. The transaction closed on August 3, 2003. Events 8 - Roman Empire General Tiberius defeats Dalmatians on the river Bathinus. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. The Rhapsody service was briefly known as RealRhapsody shortly after the acquisition, but has since shortened back to "Rhapsody".

Rhapsody is considered one of the canonical examples of The Long Tail theory. The phrase The Long Tail (as a Proper noun with capitalized letters was first coined by Chris Anderson in an October 2004 Wired magazine The service provided extensive data on consumer usage of the service for Chris Anderson's article "The Long Tail", which was published in Wired in October 2004, and subsequently provided updated data for Anderson's book of the same name. Wired is a full-color monthly American Magazine and on-line periodical published in San Francisco, California since March 1993

In 2006, Power Metal band Rhapsody had to change its name to Rhapsody of Fire after running into a trademark dispute with Rhapsody parent RealNetworks, which owned the Rhapsody trademark in the United States. Rhapsody of Fire (formerly known as ThunderCross and - more recently - Rhapsody) is an Italian Symphonic Power metal band led by Rhapsody of Fire (formerly known as ThunderCross and - more recently - Rhapsody) is an Italian Symphonic Power metal band led by The band Rhapsody had been around four years before the launch of the Rhapsody service. [1] As of February 2006, RealNetworks claimed more than 2. 25 million subscribers of whom more than 1. 4 million were music subscribers. [2]

Features

Rhapsody exists as two different services with different featuresets, the Rhapsody. com streaming service and the Rhapsody Jukebox player.

Rhapsody has browsing features similar to those of its competitors, such as the ability to search by Artist, Album, Track, Composer, Lyrics, or Videos, as well as a Keyword search that attempts all of the above. Users are also able to browse through links to Artist Influences, Contemporaries, or Related Projects, as well as through multiple Genre hierarchies. Top songs and artists are ranked by popularity.

Purchase options

Rhapsody's main focus is on an a la carte subscription jukebox model, although it also supports per-track purchases. There are three main subscription plans: Rhapsody 25, Rhapsody Unlimited, and Rhapsody To Go.

Rhapsody 25 is a free, ad-supported version, allowing consumers to stream 25 songs on-demand per month and to access 25 Internet radio stations at no cost.

Rhapsody Unlimited is a paid subscription at $12. 99 per month. This option permits unlimited selections of music from the Rhapsody catalogue and access to radio stations programmed by Rhapsody.

Rhapsody To Go is also a paid subscription at $14. 99 per month. This option offers the same features as Rhapsody Unlimited plus the downloading of unlimited selections to computers without purchasing songs on a per-track basis. Users are not permitted to burn the tracks to CD, but they can be transferred to compatible PlaysForSure portable devices. Starting in 2004 Microsoft PlaysForSure was a certification given by Microsoft to portable devices and content services which had been tested against several These "subscription downloads" (also called tethered downloads) cannot be transferred to an Apple iPod due to rights disagreements. The recent announcement that EMI will let digital retailers sell DRM-free music downloads will enable Rhapsody and other companies to sell major-label songs that play on the iPod, provided that they make such arrangements with the individual record labels.

Purchased Music Non Rhapsody To Go subscribers can purchase individual songs and albums directly from Rhapsody, in a way similar to the iTunes Store. The iTunes Store is a software-based online Digital media store operated by Apple Inc Songs generally cost 99¢ each or $9. 99 per album, depending on the agreement with the label. Rhapsody Unlimited subscribers receive a 10% discount on purchased music.

Rhapsody on TiVo Rhapsody subscriptions are now being offered by TiVO to be played through their DVR units.

Rhapsody on Nokia Internet Tablets In March 2007 Real Networks teamed up with Nokia to provide access to the entire Rhapsody catalog starting with N800-N810 series internet tablets running Internet Tablet OS 2007 & 2008 (Maemo). Within the range of a Wi-Fi access point and with the minimum Rhapsody subscription, users can STREAM (but NOT download, nor keep/purchase on the device itself) any song in Rhapsody's library in full-length CD quality sound. The Rhapsody client on the N8x0 does sync with Rhapsody playlists via the internet (which are stored on Real's servers) but does not sync encrypted content via the PC Rhapsody client, when connected via USB.

Rhapsody. com

Rhapsody. com is a web, streaming-only version of Rhapsody that is compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux and Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari web browsers. It is installed through a browser plugin. Tracks are not purchaseable through Rhapsody. com, nor are PlaysForSure transfers possible.

Jukebox software

The Jukebox software contains all the features of the web-based version, but also some other additional features:

Other features

Microsoft Windows, Linux or Mac OS X for Rhapsody Web

Limitations

Harmony

Rhapsody customers using the Jukebox client may use the Harmony plug-in by RealNetworks to convert tracks purchased from the Rhapsody service into FairPlay AAC files for use on Apple's iPod line of digital audio players. FairPlay is a Digital rights management (DRM technology created by Apple Inc FairPlay is a Digital rights management (DRM technology created by Apple Inc Advanced Audio Coding ( AAC) is a standardized lossy compression and encoding scheme for Digital audio. Apple Inc, ( formerly Apple Computer Inc, is an American Multinational corporation with a focus on designing and manufacturing Consumer electronics iPod is a popular brand of Portable media players designed and marketed by Apple Inc A digital audio player, more commonly referred to as an MP3 player, is a Consumer electronics device that stores organizes and plays audio files Some Apple has countered this feature by modifying the firmware on certain iPods to prevent playback of these converted files without affecting tracks purchased via Apple's iTunes Music Store. In Computing, firmware is a computer program that is Embedded in a hardware device for example a Microcontroller. Real initially responded by continually modifying the Harmony plug-in to restore compatibility.

RealNetworks also slashed the price of its songs to below that of iTunes and setup a web petition at www. freedomofmusicchoice. org.

“Hey Apple! Don't break my iPod. Your company has long stood for innovation and open competition," the petition reads. "We're asking that you… support the right of your own customers to make their own choices about where they buy music for the iPod. We want Freedom of Music Choice! Don't lock us in to purchasing digital music from one source. That's bad for competition. It will stifle innovation. And it will slow the adoption of digital music devices like the iPod. ”

However, the campaign was largely seen to have backfired. Most petition comments were negative, with some accusing RealNetworks of astroturfing, while others pointed out that RealNetworks was hypocritical in not licensing its own DRM, despite pressing Apple to open up FairPlay. Astroturfing in American English is a Neologism for formal Public relations campaigns in Politics and Advertising which seek to create the impression Apple accused RealNetworks of adopting "the tactics and ethics of a hacker" and said that it would examine the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) which some speculated would lead to litigation. RealNetworks no longer updates the Harmony plug-in, as SEC filings reveal that a lawsuit against them would be potentially costly. [4][5][6]

Notes

  1. ^ Rhapsody Change Name To Rhapsody of Fire. Blabbermouth. net (2006-07-14). Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1223 - Louis VIII becomes King of France upon the death of his father Philip II of France. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated
  2. ^ RealNetworks Announces Record Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2005 Results. RealNetworks, Inc. (2006-02-14). Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 842 - Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German Retrieved on 2007-10-10. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated
  3. ^ Rhapsody — Premium Music Subscription Service. Retrieved on 2008-01-17. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 38 BC - Octavian marries Livia Drusilla. 1287 - King Alfonso III of Aragon invades Minorca
  4. ^ Jo Best (2004-07-18). "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Events 390 BC - Roman - Gaulish Wars Battle of the Allia - a Roman army is defeated by raiding Gauls, Real v Apple music war: iPod freedom petition backfires. Silicon. com. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated
  5. ^ Matt Hines (2004-07-30). "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Events 1419 - First Defenestration of Prague. 1502 - Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off Apple accuses Real over iTunes 'hacking'. Silicon. com. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated
  6. ^ Tony Smith (2004-12-15). "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Events 533 - Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of The Register Apple iPod out of tune with Real's Harmony. The Register. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated

External links

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic