Subscription music service Rhapsody is aiming to turn a profit in the last two quarters of this year, with mobile driving new subscriptions according to chief product officer Brendan Benzing. He tells PaidContent that Rhapsody has added 100,000 gross customers since spinning out from RealNetworks and Viacom. “30 to 40 per cent of our entire base is using our mobile apps now,” says Benzing. “The iPod was a closed device dominated by DRM, a tethered experience. But, with smartphones, you have your music accessible for 16 out of 24 hours – we’ve been able to increase total subscriber numbers.” However, Rhapsody is having to remove the ability to subscribe in-app in order to comply with Apple’s new rules on iOS subscriptions. “We felt the terms were untenable for us. The realities of our business is, the margins are tight. Apple’s hearing feedback and have certainly made some tweaks to those regulations to bring pre-existing relationships to the table. They are certainly an improvement but it still doesn’t go as far as we like.” Source: PaidContent
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