Real Spins Off Rhapsody

Seattle-based RealNetworks and MTV Networks announced today they will spin off their digital music service joint venture, Rhapsody, into a separate company. Under the terms of the deal, RealNetworks (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RNWK]]) will no longer be the majority owner and operator of Rhapsody; the new company will not have a single majority owner. Real says this is a significant first step in making itself more focused and profitable. More information on the restructuring can be found in the Form 8-K that Real filed with the SEC today. The deal is expected to close at the end of this quarter.

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.