The company also just launched a native app for Android smartphones, so iPhone users don't have a monopoly anymore. A BlackBerry app is planned for later this year.
Rhapsody was previously jointly owned by RealNetworks and Viacom, but recently spun off on its own. The folks who run Rhapsody hope that the newly independent company will be successful as a result of the price drop, a string of upcoming TV ad buys and its position as one of the few options for unlimited, à la carte music on mobile devices.
Some competing services -- like Napster -- cost less but only work on computers, not handsets. MOG, however, is about to compete directly with Rhapsody on mobile; it currently offers a $5 per month plan for computers and plans to launch a $10 per month mobile streaming service within a few months.
Some music lovers prefer to buy songs from iTunes so that they can easily load them onto their phones or portable music players, while others gravitate toward free streaming radio services like Last.fm and Pandora that do not allow users to pick individual songs. Rhapsody's subscriber base has declined from 800,000 to 675,000, but it's still big for a pay-to-listen music service.
[via MediaMemo]