Real Networks spins off Rhapsody music service

Real Networks are setting free (or letting go of? Depends how you look at it, I guess) their on-demand music streaming service, Rhapsody. They are not leaving it completely -- they're spinning it off, but will still remain on its board and put $18 million into the service. This is in addition to the $33 million the service is already getting in ad revenue from MTV.

Rhapsody has been one of the first music streaming services, but its fairly steep $12.99/month price tag along with stiff competition from the likes of GrooveShark has dwindled its ranks. The service went from 800,000 users at its peak to about 700,000 users at the end of Q3 2009. Now let's see if they can make it better on their own, and perhaps even extend their reach to some new territories.

[via VentureBeat]