Andre Yoskowitz
1 Jul 2008 15:02
After Real announced yesterday that it was opening up a DRM-free MP3 Rhapsody store, Verizon followed with an announcement of their own.
The company will be expanding its VCast Music service to allow MP3 downloads as well as the new Rhapsody service, meaning mobile users can download as much music as they want for $15 USD a month. Individual tracks can still be purchased for 99 cents and moved from a PC to the phone via a USB cable.
The new service expansion will work with 7 of Verizon's current phones and 3 that are coming soon. Verizon already has a similar subscription deal with Napster.
The new deal should help Verizon and Real compete with the dominant market leader Apple whose iTunes platform recently hit 5 billion song downloads.