The approval marks the first time Apple has allowed an on-demand streaming service in the United States. Recently, the company approved of Spotify for European users.
Rhapsody subscribers have to pay $14.99 USD a month to get the unlimited streaming service, but the app itself will be free. The service has over 8 million tracks, and users will be able to stream wherever there is cell service or Wi-Fi.
The service will eventually be updated to cache songs for playback when there is no Internet available.
Adds Neil Smith, vice president of business management for Rhapsody America: The new app will "reach the iPod Touch and iPhone audience that was unavailable to us before."
Notably however, the songs will stream at a lowly 64 kbps, hardly "CD-quality."
Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Sep 2009 17:15
