Rhapsody’s music service swings into Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless finally rolled out its new full-track download service, coupling an all-you-can-eat subscription offering with a pay-per-download option.
The carrier is teaming with RealNetworks and MTV Networks to offer Vcast Music with Rhapsody, a $15-a-month service that grants unlimited access to more than five million tunes. Verizon customers also can pay $2 per download to receive both an over-the-air download as well as a second, DRM-free copy for the PC, and unprotected PC-only downloads are offered at $1 each.
The service makes good on an effort announced last fall that seeks to extend Real’s Rhapsody service to mobile phones. Rhapsody offers an unlimited number of downloads for the monthly fee, but access to the tunes is denied when the subscription ends.
The offering is supported by nine devices already in the market; the latest version of LG Electronic Co. Ltd.’s Chocolate will be the first handset optimized for the service when it hits shelves in July.
“We’ve retrofit a collection of devices that will give a good, but not optimal, experience,” said John Harrobin, Verizon’s SVP of digital media and marketing. “The Chocolate 3 is the first device that’s tailor-made for Rhapsody, and we’ll have that before the end of July.”
The move comes amid similar offerings from rival carriers. AT&T Mobility offers both an all-you-can-eat music service as well as direct-to-the-phone downloads, and Sprint Nextel Corp. offers a $1-per-song wireless download function through its Sprint Music Store application.