It’s taken ten years, and a last leg up by way of an acquisition of a competitor, but Rhapsody says that it has finally reached one million subscribers for its music services in the U.S.

Streaming music service Rhapsody is acquiring Napster’s subscribers and “certain other assets,” the companies announced today. Napster is currently owned by Best Buy, which will retain a minority stake.

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.

In the stream of announcements made today at the WWDC, Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) may have dismantled more than one business model in its wake. “Sh*t” was the one-word response from Marco Arment, founder of the reading app Instapaper, when the curtain came up on Reading List from Safari. He later…

Newly independent Rhapsody is giving its iPhone app some bragging rights with an update that lets subscribers listen to tracks even when they’re not online. Users will now be able to download their Rhapsody playlists to their phones; by June, Rhapsody says it will add functionality so users can download…

Less than two months after RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK) and MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA) announced plans to spin off the veteran subscription music, Rhapsody is now on its own. It’s a little like a kid graduating from college with uncertain prospects: the college grad still has the same parents but their…

The groundwork has already been laid and now it’s official: RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK) is spinning off music service Rhapsody in the hopes of giving both companies a better chance at success. Real will reduce its interest in the Rhapsody America joint venture to below 50 percent to match Viacom’s, giving…

RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK) has laid off 12 employees from its Rhapsody music division, we have confirmed from the company, following news earlier on AllThingsD. This is about 9 percent of that group. The reason: focus on online and mobile applications, rather than the desktop client and the editorial focus that…

How much did it cost to market Rhapsody North America? RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK) spent $11.2 million to promote the launch of the service last year, according to a 10K filing released this morning. RealNetworks also spent $44 million in advertising with MTVN (NYSE: VIA), a requirement of its joint venture…

When RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK) released its Q408 earnings after hours Thursday, it also included some data the company says it is releasing for the first time: subscriber numbers. It’s not as detailed as some of us might like—for instance, basic Rhapsody for $12.99 and Rhapsody-to-Go for $14.99 are lumped together…

Yahoo Music and Rhapsody Networks are live with the latest example of their partnership: full tracks served up with Yahoo U.S. search results. For instance, search for Bruce Springsteen and the top unsponsored result is a search box with links to five tracks; pick one and the FoxyTunes player pops…

RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK), among the early proponents on DRM-free music, has finally been able to launch an MP3 store, joining the likes of Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN), Napster and iTunes, who have started offering a range of MP3 options over the last year. Rhapsody’s MP3 store offers music…

RealNetworks’ (NSDQ: RNWK) 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31 should be required reading for anyone going into a complex JV or the online music business. Line by line, it lays out the risks of the Rhapsody America joint venture with MTV Networks, all the more interesting giving RealNetworks CEO…

RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK) filed its 10-K annual report last week with SEC, and some numbers on the layoffs it did in relation to its WiderThan acquisitions, and some layoffs in its music division. During Q407, it recorded a restructuring charge of $3.7 million, primarily related to severance. These charges were…

— Philips partners with Rhapsody for digital music: Philips is forming an alliance with RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK) to offer online music using Philips’ music players…it would start selling portable and home audio devices compatible with the Rhapsody subscription service early this year.  Philips joins SanDisk Corp (NSDQ: SNDK). Nokia (NYSE:…

As part of the Rhapsody America JV between MTVN (NYSE: VIA) and RealNetworks, (NSDQ: RNWK) MTVN agreed to contribute a five-year $230 million note, obligating RNWK to buy $230 million worth of advertising MTVN cable channels. Essentially, it was a mechanism to guarantee and quantify MTVN’s contribution of advertising inventory.…