RealNetworks Forecasts Lower Revenues, Shares Fall

Digital media company RealNetworks Inc forecasts first-quarter and full-year 2008 revenue below Wall Street expectations partly due to slower growth in its Rhapsody America music business. For the full year, RealNetworks expected an adjusted loss of between 9 cents per share and 4 cents per share, on revenue of between $612 million and $632 million. Fourth-quarter revenue rose 25 percent to nearly $157 million from $125.6 million a year ago, beating analyst estimates of $155.3 million, driven by strength in its online games business. (Billboard)

Yahoo! Music switches to Rhapsody-run service

Yahoo! is closing down its subscription Yahoo! Music service and has signed a deal with Rhapsody for it to take over the online giant's music offerings. Silicon Valley Insider estimates the Yahoo! unit may be worth between USD66m and USD110m. The deal comes at the same time as Yahoo! is expected to announce its rumoured acquisition of plug-in music app, FoxyTunes. (StrategyEye, Forbes, Billboard)

MusicIP Gets Wordy, Brokers LyricFind Partnership

Lyrics have always been integral to the music listening experience, yet homegrown sites have dominated the landscape since the 90s. Now, bigger players are getting into the game, including Gracenote, Yahoo, and RealNetworks. The latest deal involves music intelligence and discovery provider MusicIP, which has now brokered a partnership with LyricFind. (Digital Music News)

Philips partners with Rhapsody music service

Philips and RealNetworks will offer a unified music download service to home audio systems as well as portable music players from a single provider, filling what they argue is a gap in the market. The two companies plan to launch the Rhapsody service for Philips devices in North America around the end of the first quarter, executives said at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. (Reuters)