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REALNETWORKS’ RHAPSODY SERVICE STREAMS PAST 500,000-SONG PER DAY THRESHOLD
More Than 16 Million Songs Streamed On-Demand in August, Signaling Mainstreaming of Service; On-Demand Streaming Grows by 24% in August, Doubles in Last Five Months
SEATTLE - September 8, 2003 — RealNetworks®, Inc. (Nasdaq: RNWK), the global leader in digital media services and software for consumers and businesses, today announced that it streamed more than 16 million on-demand songs to RHAPSODY subscribers in August, an average rate of more than 500,000 songs per day. In the past five months, the service has more than doubled the number of songs streamed to customers each month.
This news comes on the heels of the announcement that Rhapsody subscriptions will be sold in more than 560 Best Buy stores across the country. It represents another month of strong growth in consumer usage of the RHAPSODY service and highlights growing interest in legal online music services and enthusiasm for RHAPSODY’s unlimited listening approach. An average RHAPSODY subscriber listens to hundreds of songs on-demand each month, paying just one low price for unlimited access to a library of more than 25,000 albums of music.
“RHAPSODY’s rapid rate of growth, driven by the successful launch of Best Buy RHAPSODY, our exclusive promotion offering music from The Rolling Stones in digital format, and the continuing success of RealOne RHAPSODY, demonstrates that the consumer market is finally ready for music services that deliver a better-than-free experience,” said Sean Ryan, vice president of music services, RealNetworks. “August’s numbers prove what we’ve been saying for months: legal music services have unquestionably caught the ears of music fans.”
RealNetworks also announced that PC World honored RHAPSODY with a PC World Best Buy Award in its September 2003 issue, which includes a review of leading legal online music services. In 2003, RHAPSODY has also been honored with a PC World 2003 World Class Award for “Best Streaming Audio Service” and a PC Magazine Editors’ Choice Award, that magazine’s highest editorial honor.
Today’s news comes three weeks after RealNetworks launched a new distribution relationship with Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY), North America's largest consumer electronics retailer, and joined Best Buy and EMI Music in making The Rolling Stones’ catalog of historic recordings for EMI Music’s Virgin Records available in legitimate digital format for the first time ever. Best Buy now sells subscriptions to the award-winning service at all U.S. Best Buy stores nationwide, giving consumers the convenience of signing up for a 14-day free RHAPSODY trial at any of more than 560 Best Buy stores and through the Company’s Web site, www.bestbuy.com.
RHAPSODY offers consumers unlimited, ‘all you can eat’ access to a broad library of major and independent label music, with more than 375,000 tracks available for on-demand streaming and more than 265,000 songs available for burning to CD. At only 79¢ for any track, RHAPSODY offers subscribers the lowest per-burn price available to U.S. consumers through any of the new generation of digital music services. In addition to burning full albums or custom mix CDs, RHAPSODY subscribers can build their own custom Internet radio stations, listen to professionally programmed stations, and browse extensive music information and editorial recommendations.
For More Information:
Matt Graves, RealNetworks, 415-934-2159, mgraves@real.com
About RHAPSODY
RHAPSODY® is the award-winning digital music service from RealNetworks. RHAPSODY offers consumers unlimited access to more than 25,000 albums of music from all five major music companies and more than 175 of the world’s most prominent independent labels. In 2003, RHAPSODY has been honored with a PC World 2003 World Class Award for “Best Streaming Audio Service,” a PC Magazine Editors’ Choice Award, and most recently, a PC World Best Buy Award in its September 2003 review of leading legal online music services. The service is available as RealOne RHAPSODY via RealNetworks, with a 14-day free trial, for $9.95 a month at www.real.com. RHAPSODY is also distributed to consumers through co-branded versions of the service by Audiogalaxy, Best Buy, Cablevision Systems Corporation’s Optimum Online®, Charter Communications, Down Beat, Gateway, JamBase.com, Lycos, RCN Corporation, Time Warner Cable’s Road Runner high-speed ISP, Sony’s Musiclub, Speakeasy, Sprint, and Verizon Online.
About RealNetworks
RealNetworks, Inc. is the global leader in digital media services and software for consumers and businesses. Consumers use RealNetworks' RealOne Player and the content subscription services it offers to create and play free and premium digital content. Broadcasters, network operators, media companies and enterprises use RealNetworks' products and services to deliver digital media to PCs, mobile phones and consumer electronics devices. Consumers can access and experience audio/video programming and download RealNetworks' consumer software at http://www.real.com. RealNetworks' systems and corporate information is located at http://www.realnetworks.com.
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