Rhapsody & Napster Surpass 2.5M Global Subscribers

Member Engagement Reaches All-Time High Thanks to Surge in Mobile Usage

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Feb 11, 2015, 09:00 ET

SEATTLE, Feb. 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Rhapsody and Napster now have more than 2.5 million paid subscribers globally. This continues one of the fastest periods of growth in company history, with annual subscriber increase of over 60 percent. This surge is being fueled by partnerships with several of the world's largest wireless providers, auto manufacturers and the launch of new, innovative Internet radio products.

"Our decision to prioritize the mobile music experience is paying off. We're seeing a fast-paced transition toward mobile-only listening throughout our global base of members," said Ethan Rudin, chief financial officer, Rhapsody International. "Over the next six months, we plan to continue to extend relationships with our wireless, auto and connected device partners to ensure we deliver experiences that make streaming music an essential part of daily life."

Overall, the amount of on-demand streaming music people are listening to is exploding. Rhapsody and Napster members are now listening to more than five million hours of music per week globally. Subscribers are also starting to listen differently. The majority of the global customer base is using the mobile app to listen to music. In fact, 88 percent of subscribers listen to some amount of music on their phone. What is even more interesting is that more than 70 percent of Rhapsody and Napster members are exclusively listening on their mobile device, which is up 19 percent from a year ago.

The Napster product also continues to drive growth worldwide. Napster's global partnership with Telefonica has seen Napster successfully launched across Telefonica's businesses in Germany (via O2 and EPlus), Brazil (via Vivo) and across the Latin American region (via Movistar). Napster and Telefonica launched a major campaign in Chile in 2014 with more planned this year. Napster also continues to grow thanks to additional European partnerships, including SFR and Vodafone. In December, WIND Italy and Napster introduced a new offer, "All Inclusive Music," to WIND customers.

Beyond wireless, Napster continues to expand thanks to auto partnerships. Napster recently announced a partnership with Audi, which integrates the service into select Audi models for seamless listening in the car.

In June, Rhapsody and T-Mobile introduced Rhapsody unRadio, a new music service that eliminates the biggest customer pain points associated with traditional Internet radio. Traditional Internet radio interrupts you with ads, limits skips, and chooses your music for you. But, with unRadio, music streaming is completely ad free, lets you skip all you want, and you can choose your music or replay your favorites any time. Since launch, unRadio has bridged the gap for customers between a free service and a full, premium offering like Rhapsody Premiere. Rhapsody unRadio subscriptions spiked 67 percent during the holiday season, a pace that continues in the first quarter.

"We wanted to bring the Un-carrier approach to Internet radio by creating a service that puts music listeners in control and gives them a totally uninterrupted, ad-free experience," said Mike Sievert, chief marketing officer, T-Mobile. "It's fantastic to see how much people are loving unRadio!"

With a range of high quality product offerings, price points, new platforms, and global partners Rhapsody and Napster are reaching more customers than ever across the globe, meaning even more people can experience more music from the industry-leading catalog of more than 34 million songs anytime, anywhere.

"Last year was a breakthrough year and it's clear that streaming is here to stay. 2015 will be about showing the influence that streaming has in this new music industry, now that the average music lover understands what it means to have unlimited on-demand music in their pocket," said Rudin. "As pioneers in the streaming business, we will continue offering innovative products to support this growing change in the industry."

About Rhapsody International
Rhapsody International is the parent company of leading streaming music services Rhapsody and Napster. Now available in more than 30 countries across the U.S., Europe and Latin America, Rhapsody and Napster give members ad-free access to more than 34 million songs. Whether they're listening on their phone, at home, at work, or in the car, Rhapsody and Napster go where our members go. Our expert team of editors creates a curated music experience that makes it easy for members worldwide to gather and enjoy new original content including videos, playlists, reviews, and radio stations -- anytime and anywhere. Follow @Rhapsody on Twitter and keep up with the latest on the Rhapsody Facebook page.

About Napster
Napster is one of the world's leading premium subscription digital music services. Owned and operated by U.S.-based Rhapsody International Inc., Napster combines the iconic history of one of the most recognizable digital music brands in the world with the vast experience and technological platform of the first subscription music service, Rhapsody. Napster offers one of the world's most comprehensive online music collections and provides access to your music anywhere, via hundreds of devices. Rhapsody, Napster, and their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Rhapsody International Inc. For more information, visit www.napster.com.

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SOURCE Rhapsody International