The move toward free, on-demand music accelerated this morning when Yahoo! Inc. [
YHOO] added full-song streams to its search results through its partnership with RealNetworks Inc.'s [
RNWK] Rhapsody service. Yahoo!'s
deal is similar to Rhapsody's to agreement with iLike Inc.,
announced in July, which lets users stream up to 25 free songs per month. (Rhapsody subscribers get unlimited full-song streams.)
Yahoo! users will be able to stream the songs via the FoxyPlayer software, acquired when Yahoo!
bought Israeli startup FoxyTunes for a reported $30 to $40 million in February. That deal was revealed the same day Yahoo! announced that it would shut down its old Music Unlimited program and replace it with a new service created through a partnership with Rhapsody.
Free music seems to be everywhere now, whether it's streaming (
iLike,
Imeem,
Last.fm, the
upcoming MySpace Music) or downloadable (
SpiralFrog,
We7). The addition of free songs to Yahoo! search results is a signal that
legitimate free music has gone mainstream, although it doesn't necessarily spell doom for the lesser-known sites that still offer nifty social networking features. Rather, it highlights their importance: Music fans may be able to hear songs anywhere they want, but they'll come back to the places where they can discover and share music with their friends. And that battle is just beginning.
-- Paul BonanosSee Sept. 18 post on Rhapsody partnership from Yahoo!'s music blogSee Feb. 4 post about Yahoo! and FoxyTunes from Tech Confidential
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