Spanish Internet media company Terra Lycos on Tuesday launched an online radio-style music subscription service that will offer music from four major record labels.
Terra Lycos said it partnered with Listen.com to create the new Web service, Lycos Rhapsody, which will offer access to more than 10,000 albums. The service does not let users download the music or record it on CDs, but plans to offer that capability later.
"This is another step in the evolution of the digital music market," said Gartner2Media Research Director P.J. McNealy.
Online music efforts by record companies have not resonated strongly with Web surfers. After being spoiled by the range of artists and possibilities that online-music swapping service Napster offered for free, many Web surfers have been turned off by the price and limits of the services backed by record labels.