[PR] RealNetworks Announces More Than 450,000 Subscribers for Its Digital Music Services, Extending Lead in Music Subscriptions

"RealNetworks [...] announced that it added 100,000 paying subscribers for its premium digital music services during the company's fiscal first quarter (ended March 31, 2004), pushing the total subscription count for its music services beyond 450,000. This is the second consecutive quarter the company has added 100,000 subscribers for its digital music services, including Rhapsody and RadioPass. Overall, the subscriber base for these services has grown by 80% since the end of Q3 2003. [...] For $9.95 per month, Rhapsody delivers unlimited access to a broad library of major and independent label music, with more than 625,000 songs available for on-demand streaming and more than 550,000 songs available for purchase at the industry-low price of 79" per song."

Despite much bragging by online services, I'll remind readers unfamiliar with this industry that their offerings cover only a relatively narrow slice of the overall music catalogs out there. Though this is slowly improving, if your tastes are outside of the mainstream there are many things simply missing from online download and subscription services, not to speak of weak coverage outside of the US. One wonder how the majors have the guts to bitch about so-called piracy in Europe where there's hardly any alternative available to music lovers interested in digital products.