Hello Apple - Rhapsody America wants to play!

Yet another Startup music company...

Rhapsody America is a joint venture that includes MTV Networks and RealNetworks. Their distribution is through Verizon. YAWN.

Ok-so now WALMART?
Yes- Wal-Mart announced ME TOO!They now have DRM-free songs and album downloads on their website.

No stopping yet-here is another...
Navio Systems is another new venture -named gBox. They went live
Tuesday with DRM-free content. Their buddies are SonyBMG and Universal. With Google as their ad partners.

Rhapsody America's announcement spurred MTV to fold their URGE music service. No MTV is not dropping out-just handing the URGE service to Rhapsody.

Many news gurus say this will rival Apple's iTunes digital retail storefront. I don't agree. Its about branding and trends. Oh..plus the hardware that it embodies. iPod.

Trust me on this-music is music...what you put it on speaks volumes...all cars roll...right? But not all cars have that "edge". This space is as much about image as it is functionality. iPod will prevail until the next device trend hits.