Listen.com deals to put Rhapsody in the home

By Susan Rush
from CED Broadband Direct, August 5, 2002

Home networking gear provider NETGEAR Inc. is teaming with Listen.com to tout broadband entertainment services in the networked home.

The partnership will enable NETGEAR customers who purchase the company's Platinum Family of networking products to trial Listen.com's Rhapsody digital subscription service for 30 days, free of charge. During the trial, which kicks off this fall, customers will have access to more than 15,000 music albums.

The Platinum Family line of products includes a router, switches, DSL modem Internet gateway and powerline bridges. NETGEAR says future releases in the product line will be based on wireless networking standards.

Last week, Listen.com inked similar distribution deals with DirecTV and Road Runner. The deals will enable DirecTV Broadband and Road Runner subscribers to use Rhapsody for free as a promotion during the month of August.

The Rhapsody service gives customers access to 185,000 tracks of on-demand music or programmed Internet radio stations. If customers want to customize, they have the ability to build custom radio stations with music from their favorite artists.