RHAPSODY INTERNATIONAL CELEBRATES CONTINUED GROWTH IN FIRST QUARTER OF 2014

09 April 2014 - Press release

Now available in 32 countries, Rhapsody and Napster are among fastest growing global streaming music services

Rhapsody International, parent company of leading streaming music services, Napster and Rhapsody, today announced the services have grown the total paid global subscriber base by 63 percent year over year*. In the first quarter of the year, Napster and Rhapsody are adding an average of 8,000 paid subscribers per day. Today, there are more than 1.7 million global subscribers to Napster and Rhapsody.

Napster and Rhapsody now operate in a combined 32 countries across the United States, Europe and Latin America most recently launching seven new markets across Latin America, including Uruguay, Ecuador, Panama, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Costa Rica.

“Our goal is to inspire a daily music habit by putting the right music within arms’ reach for our subscribers. In less than one year, we’ve more than doubled our catalogue size, expanded from three to 32 countries and launched several wireless carrier partnerships across Europe and Latin America,” said Paul Springer, Rhapsody International’s SVP Americas and Chief Product Officer. “In the coming months, we will continue to expand into new markets, further investing in localised content and differentiated product offerings.”

Rhapsody and Napster subscribers are heavy mobile music listeners. Today, 80 percent of all subscribers listen to music on their mobile device and more than 60 percent of users exclusively listen on their phones. This increasing shift toward mobile is a place that Rhapsody and Napster are innovating with new features and services that make it easier to collect and build community around music experiences within Napster and Rhapsody.

“We are focused on making Napster and Rhapsody the best service for music fans without interruption by advertising or commercials,” said Springer.

Germany, France and Brazil are the fastest growing markets, but the US remains the largest. In the UK, 79 percent of subscribers are monthly active users. Globally, subscribers listen on average 10 hours of music per week, but in the US alone, Rhapsody subscribers are listening nearly 35 hours per month.

In less than a year, the global catalogue size has surpassed 32 million tracks with nearly 30,000 songs being added daily. Some of the most popular songs and artists according to Rhapsody and Napster subscribers include:

Most popular songs:

Global: “Happy" by Pharrell Williams

US: “Dark Horse (featuring Juicy J)” by Katy Perry

UK: "Rather Be feat. Jess Glynne" by Clean Bandit

Germany: "Happy" by Pharrell Williams

Brazil: "Royals" by Lorde

 

Most popular artists:

Global: Eminem

US: Eminem

UK: Ellie Goulding

Germany: Marteria

Brazil: Jorge & Mateus

 

As Rhapsody International’s global footprint increases, strategic partnerships remain a primary opportunity to introduce Napster to a wider audience. In February, Synchronoss and Napster announced a partnership to bundle Napster into its personal cloud solution, enabling carriers to offer a mobile-first global music sharing platform. Napster also recently expanded a partnership with Online Entertainment featuring BMW ConnectedDrive, which now brings direct access to Napster in select BMW models.