RealNetworks Losses Wider Than Expected

RealNetworks reported wider than anticipated losses yesterday. Q1 revenues were down 5% for a net loss of $12.1 million or 10 cents per share compared with profits of 2 cents per share a year earlier. Analysts had expected losses of 6 cents a share.

MUSIC SUBSCRIPTIONS UP

The co-owned music subscription service Rhapsody Unlimited was a bright spot at 800,000 subscribers. That’s up 25K from the previous quarter and 200K year over year.  Any subscriber number less than a million can seem unspectacular in the internet age.  But when one considers that subscribers pay $12.99 monthly for the service, it becomes clear that Real was right to stay in the subscription game even as others like Yahoo! and Urge exited.