If pausing live television, skipping over commercials, and recording shows without tapes or discs isn’t enough, TiVo has now joined forces with Rhapsody-an online music service run by RealNetworks-to allow subscribers with broadband-connected boxes to listen to music streamed over the Internet.
This is just one of several mergers TiVo has involved itself in the last several years-teaming up with Yahoo Inc. back in 2005 for photo sharing and Amazon.com earlier this year for Unbox movie downloads-a service that allows consumers to directly access movies from their DVR.
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According to the AP, TiVo and Rhapsody view this new partnership as a way to cross-market and elevate their subscriber basis. TiVo, which also lets subscribers have direct access to some online content as well as share home movies with other users, witnessed significant drops in the past year from 4.4 million users to 4.2 million.
The new feature, a part of Rhapsody America, itself a merger between RealNetworks Inc. and MTV Networks, will now give TiVo customers access to an index of over 4 million songs. The cost: $12.99 per month in addition to the $12.95 or more TiVo already charges.
Rhapsody, one of the leading providers of subscription music, and TiVo, arguably the most popular of the DVR devices, will still be in heavy contention with other services like Apple’s iTunes, which is commonly used for its 99 cents downloads. Rhapsody does offer 99 cent downloads, but will not through TiVo.
TiVo seems determined to come out on top. Continuing to integrate as many digital genres as possible, they are allowing their custumers to fully enjoy their favorite TV, movies, and now music on the same easy to operate device. As reported by the Associated Press, TiVo’s CEO Tom Rogers stated, “This puts us on the map as distinguishing ourselves …. We not only facilitate getting Rhapsody on the TV set, but most importantly, the quick easy way to find it, which is how TiVo made its name.”
TiVo will introduce the Rhapsody feature in stages giving priority to current customers who sign up for it. They will get a free 30 day trial of the service.
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