Rhapsody is the often overlooked veteran of streaming music world. While frequently overshadowed by the likes of Spotify, the service reminds us that it’s still here after more than a decade, announcing on Friday that it now supports Chromecast via its Android app. iOS support will happen later this month, the company says.
So, make that one more reason why Chromecast makes a darn good internet radio (at least if you own an Android device).
Rhapsody, which acquired the reborn Napster service in 2011, also announced that it has reached 1.7 million paying subscribers worldwide. That’s less than a third of Spotify’s paid subscriber base, however Rhapsody is the #2 streaming service worldwide. This also marks a 63% increase over the last year.
I probably first tried out Rhapsody with a six-month free subscription I received back in 2006. I enjoyed the service during that time. And even though this was the pre-smartphone era, I believe you could take some music off-line with certain authorized MP3 players. Yet, I wasn’t sold enough on the idea of subscription music to continue after my free period ended. (For what it’s worth, I also haven’t subscribed to another service in the interim.)
I’d guess that at least one reason behind Rhapsody’s much slower growth probably has to do with the fact that it only offers paid subscriptions. Unlike Spotify, and now Rdio, there are no ad supported free plans to get listeners hooked.
While Rhapsody does offer a 30 day free trial, signing up requires handing over a credit card number first. Those sorts of free trials tend to deter me from signing up because I’m afraid I’ll forget to cancel on time and end up being charged for a service that either I don’t want or am not using. I don’t imagine I’m alone in this. Hence, I will not be offering a review of the Rhapsody on Chromecast experience.
None the less, Rhapsody still beat Spotify and Beats Music onto Chromecast, which might drive a few more subscriptions for users who haven’t yet committed to a music service.
