• GigaOm, Tuesday, April 6, 2010 2:33 PM

Meet the new Rhapsody: footloose and fancy free. Officially an independent company, former parent RealNetworks no longer holds majority control of the music subscription provider. (RealNetworks and Viacom now possess equal minority stakes in the standalone entity.)

Going forward, Rhapsody will now offer a $10 monthly subscription service. "The new price point reflects an industry-wide drop in the cost of all-you-can-eat music services, which deliver access to a large library of songs for a monthly fee, even as their providers add mobile functionality," notes GigaOm. Traditionally, Rhapsody has delivered streams to the desktop, along with "tethered download" files that can be loaded onto certain mobile music players, for about $15. Last September, its iPhone app beginning last September. The company also recently renegotiated its licensing fees with content owners, representing what GigaOm called more "realistic" expectations from labels.

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