Rhapsody tops 800k subscribers and fires opening shot in Spotify war

'The freemium model is not sustainable at current content cost structures," says president Irwin.

US music service Rhapsody now has more than 800,000 subscribers,  having added 150,000 since it became an independent entity in April this year, following previous co-ownership by Viacom and RealNetworks.

President Jon Irwin says those 150,000 extra subscribers are more than "the lifetime total of all new US competitors combined" - a clear shot across the bows of rivals like Mog and Rdio. Those companies have not revealed their paying subscriber numbers, but they are thought to be low.

Mobile has been key to Rhapsody's growth of late, with 40% of the service's streams now going to mobile devices - a number that's growing according to Irwin.

Now the company is preparing for new competition in the US from European firm Spotify, which is expected to launch its US service this month. Irwin is getting his shots in early on that score, claiming that Spotify's business model is unsustainable.

"It’s clear that a premium, on-demand digital music service brings a ton of value to consumers and we have proven that a successful business can be built on this model over time," says Irwin. "We believe the freemium model is not sustainable at current content cost structures." He also thinks consumers will become increasingly aware of "the shackles of free music services".