According to an e-mail addressed to registered users of Listen.com Radio, the service will wind down tomorrow, January 10, as the company shifts its Internet radio stations to their new digital music service, Rhapsody. The message is being reinforced with audio ads on the Listen.com stations' streams, and a pop-up ad when the player is launched.

While the e-mail promises users that their favorite Listen.com channels will available for free with the Rhapsody service, we have been unable to find several of our old favorites on the new platform (stations like "The Weird Beard," and Listen's complement of "outside" programmed stations -- like the Sub Pop and Revolution Magazine channels -- don't appear to be surviving the transition). But we have found some great new ones on Rhapsody ("Polyester Palace" on the new system is nice).

Meanwhile, Listen has secured licenses from BMG and EMI, two of the five major recording labels, to include their music in the Rhapsody online subscription service. When the service was introduced (see RAIN here), one day before the major label-backed MusicNet, it was criticized for not offering major label product.

See press releases here and here.

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The following is from Gavin Top 40 & R/C Editor Kevin Carter's interview with noted radio consultant Guy Zapoleon (pictured), president of Zapoleon Media Strategies:

"Carter: Satellite radio is literally hanging over our heads -- how do foresee its impact? Should terrestrial radio, in its current state of flux, be nervous?

"Zapoleon: Yes! Radio should be very nervous about all the new entertainment sources coming on the scene. All the consolidation and subsequent cuts in programming essentials are hitting at the worst possible time. There are more entertainment sources available now than ever.

"XM is launching with formats offering more variety than radio can offer, with no or few commercials. I don’t think anyone realizes the impact that XM is going to have on radio. All of us think that the primary audience for XM will be audiophiles who are not being satisfied by radio’s tight playlists. Not true. There are many people who live in remote areas who cannot get radio. People who travel by car or truck will listen to dependable radio brands on satellite.

"The big record labels are creating their own versions of Napster to download music. What listener will continue to choose over-commercialized and less-compelling radio as their means for getting music? Unfortunately, it’s a reality we all have to deal with, and a snowball effect. Owners need to be taking steps right now to create compelling and well-targeted radio stations or they will find that radio will become forgotten much like the great AM music stations where 30 years ago when FM came on the scene."

Read the entire interview here.



From the press release: "Radio Free Virgin, a leading digital broadcasting company, today announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, that Philips will be featuring premier content from Radio Free Virgin in its Streamium MC-i200 micro hi-fi stereo system.

"Radio Free Virgin, the most popular digital radio service in the world according to Measurecast, is one of the first music aggregation companies to provide streaming music content for the new Streamium MC-i 200, the world's first micro hi-fi system to access multiple digital music services via a broadband Internet connection. The deal also extends Radio Free Virgin's off-the-desktop initiative and is the first time the company's unique programming will be featured prominently in a Philips product."

...

... Note that this is a different product than Philips' FWi1000 (in RAIN here), introduced last summer. The new Streamium MC-i 200, scheduled to be released this summer, will also feature programming from iM Networks and MusicMatch (reported yesterday in RAIN here). Finally, note that there's some confusion -- Radio Free Virgin (an excellent and well-programmed webcaster) is a completely different and separate entity than British broadcaster Virgin Radio, which actually is MeasureCast's top-rated Internet audio stream. We've also seen this mix-up in the press -- here, for instance. ...

From the San Francisco Chronicle: "WebTV founder Steve Perlman, who has kept his latest venture cloaked in secrecy for two years, will finally pull the curtain back...to reveal what analysts say could be a revolutionary consumer product.

"The Moxi Media Center [is] a low-cost, all-in-one set-top box that combines several forms of home entertainment, including digital video recording, DVDs, CDs, cable/satellite TV, e-mail and the PC...

"The Moxi technology is built on the Linux operating system and has its own media storage and navigation system...

"The center serves as a home Internet gateway, with a built-in high-speed cable or DSL modem. A separate device connects the main unit to other TVs or computers wirelessly or by cable, and media stored in the main unit can be accessed from the remote locations...

"The main unit also has an internal 80-GB hard drive to store video from the digital video recorder, video-on-demand services or an entire collection of music CDs. Audio MP3 files can be sent to a portable digital audio player. The Moxi also includes a DVD/CD player, although in the future, it could accommodate a rewritable DVD drive, Perlman said. Moxi users can also send instant messages and e-mail."

Read the entire article here.