NEWS | Wednesday, 22 August 2007

MTV, Real and Verizon team up to battle iTunes

Viacom Inc’s MTV Networks said on Tuesday it struck a digital music partnership with online music service RealNetworks Inc and Verizon to compete against Apple Inc.’s iTunes service.
Viacom said details of the deal will be disclosed later on Tuesday. MTV will merge its joint venture digital music store Urge into a joint venture with RealNetworks’ Rhapsody music subscription service, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified sources.
MTV launched Urge last year with Microsoft Corp. The new pact with RealNetworks likely means the end of MTV’s partnership with Microsoft, the Journal said.
Shortly after Urge was launched, Microsoft launched its digital music player and service Zune.
Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc, is expected to supply mobile distribution for the joint venture’s digital content, the Journal said, citing one of its sources.
The pact with Verizon Wireless could bolster the new venture’s battle against the market-leading iTunes. Apple drew criticism from mobile operators and consumers when it made AT&T Inc the sole U.S. provider of its iPhone. The iPhone does not currently allow the wireless purchasing of songs from iTunes.
RealNetworks could immediately be reached for comment.