Interview: Rhapsody Hopes To Hit Profit This Year, May Seek Investment
Rhapsody hopes to move in to the black in the final two quarters of this year, after turning around subscriber decline following its spinout from RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK) and Viacom (NYSE: VIA) largely thanks to uptake of its mobile service, the company’s chief product office Brendan Benzing tells paidContent.
From there, the newly-single company could seek new investment. “There’s a lot of people looking for value plays in what is becoming an extremely competitive sector,” Benzing says.
Could Rhapsody follow music peer Pandora (NYSE: P) on to the Nasdaq? “There’s nothing precluding us from doing that,” Benzing says. “We dont have any near-term plans to do that. But private markets are a viable option for any company. We could look at that to capitalise the business or to help go international.” Get the full story at Paidcontent.co.uk
Rhapsody has added 100,000 gross customers since the spinout and Benzing, echoing Steve Jobs in hailing the “post-PC era”, cites its mobile app, which supports Rhapsody’s $9.99-a-month service, as a major driver: “Thirty to 40 percent of our entire base is using our mobile apps now. 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.”
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Posted by Robert Andrews
on Jul 4 2011. Filed under featured.
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