RHAPSODY, APPLE JOIN FORCES

Rhapsody has entered the world of cloud computing, by launching a new version of its iPhone app which allows consumers to download playlists to their Apple devices, including the iPod touch and iPad.

Beating serious stateside entries from both MOG and Spotify to the market, Rhapsody has now layered cached content into its offerings, allowing users to access large collections while away from an Internet connection. The feature is a major selling point for Spotify's iPhone app in Europe.

Rhapsody becomes the first U.S. service to enable people to download subscription music to the iPhone.

“Today marks a turning point for Rhapsody and subscription music,” said Rhapsody President Jon Irwin. “By making Rhapsody accessible anywhere people want to hear music—and not just the places where they have an Internet connection—we’re giving music lovers a new way to discover and enjoy music on the devices they love.”

Version 2.0 of Rhapsody for iPhone is now available in the U.S. for free from the Apple App Store. It is a new version of the iPhone app that Rhapsody first launched last September.

Using Rhapsody for iPhone, subscribers can stream (and now download) music from its catalog of over 9 million songs, listen to Internet radio stations, create new playlists on the go, or access the playlists they have already created. The app also makes it easy for people to buy songs from the iTunes Store. In the coming months, Rhapsody will add the ability to download individual songs and albums (in addition to playlists) as part of an update to the Rhapsody for iPhone app.

Using the app requires a Rhapsody subscription, either to the $10-per-month Rhapsody Premier offering the company introduced earlier this month (which provides access to Rhapsody on one mobile device) or to the $14.99 Rhapsody Premier Plus plan (which lets people access the service on up to three mobile devices). More info on those plans can be read here.

In its most recent forecast on the U.S. digital music market, Forrester Research predicted that over the next four years the number of people subscribed to services like Rhapsody will double to more than five million, up from approximately 2.1 million today. Wireless subscribers will be one of the major drivers for that growth.

Rhapsody is now the only on-demand music service available on the iPhone platform. Earlier this month, the company also launched a mobile app for the Android platform. In addition, the company is developing a mobile app for BlackBerry smartphone users that will
launch this summer.