On-demand music comes to the iPhone

Jake Widman
Friday, 11 September 2009 00:57

Your IT - Mobility

Two iPhone apps that permit on-demand music streaming have been approved by Apple for inclusion in the iPhone App Store. It's the first time on-demand streaming has been available, and a breakthrough for subscription music services. 

A couple of days ago, the Spotify iPhone application was approved. Spotify , based in the UK, provides online music streaming through a desktop client application.

The desktop service is available in a free, ad-supported version, but mobile subscribers need a paid Premium subscription.

Furthermore, the service is so far only available in Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK, France and Spain.

But subscribers in those countries seem to like it, and the iPhone app is currently the most popular item in the UK App Store.

Rhapsody's application to join the on-demand streaming party was reported two weeks ago, and the app was approved and became available today.

Lacy Kemp, writing on the RealNetworks blog , describes the app's top-ten features, including the ability to save playlists and to explore new music risk-free.

Listeners need a subscription to Rhapsody To Go, the version of the service that permits songs to be tranferred to mobile devices (though not iPods, before this). The service costs US$14.99 per month, but Rhapsody is offering a seven-day free trial, with the app available at the App Store or via a link here .