Yahoo! Music was a brand under which
Yahoo!
Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Man ...
provided a variety of music services, including
Internet radio
Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...
,
music videos
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
, news, artist information, and
original programming
Original programming (also called originals or original programs, and subcategorized as "original series", "original movies", "original documentaries" and "original specials") is a term used for in-house television, film or web series productions ...
. Previously, users with Yahoo! accounts could gain access to hundreds of thousands of songs sorted by artist, album, song and
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
.
History
Yahoo Music began as "LAUNCH", a website and magazine produced by LAUNCH Media which Yahoo acquired for US$12 million in 2001. LAUNCH was later rebranded as "Yahoo Music", then simply "Y! Music" in February 2005. LAUNCH's
LAUNCHcast
Yahoo! Music Radio (formerly known as LAUNCHcast) was an Internet radio service offered by Clear Channel Communications' iHeartRadio through Yahoo! Music. The service, formerly offered by LAUNCH Media, and originally developed by Todd Beaupré, ...
Internet radio
Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...
and music video offerings were integrated into Yahoo's site along with artist profiles containing an extensive selection of music and biographical information.
On September 14, 2004, Yahoo purchased Musicmatch, Inc., makers of the
Musicmatch Jukebox
MusicMatch Jukebox was an audio player made by San Diego-based MusicMatch, Inc. It contained features commonly found in jukebox software such as the ability to manage digital audio files and playlists, audio file conversion, an online music sto ...
software. As of Musicmatch 10.1, Yahoo has rebranded Musicmatch Jukebox as Yahoo Music Musicmatch Jukebox, and integrated it with the Yahoo Music Engine store. The main difference is the branding and physical program.
In 2005, Yahoo Music became the first major online music service to provide a $5 per month unlimited download service similar to the
Open Music Model, albeit with
digital rights management
Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures (TPM) such as access control technologies can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. ...
, called
Yahoo! Music Unlimited
Yahoo! Music Unlimited was an on-demand online music service launched on May 10, 2005 and provided by Yahoo! Music.
The service was discontinued on September 30, 2008.
Service
Users paid a subscription fee to access a library of over two millio ...
.
Yahoo Music was the number one online music site in terms of audience reach and total time spent in March 2007.
In 2008, Yahoo announced that Yahoo Music Unlimited will be merged into
Rhapsody
Rhapsody may refer to:
* A work of epic poetry, or part of one, that is suitable for recitation at one time
** Rhapsode, a classical Greek professional performer of epic poetry
Computer software
* Rhapsody (online music service), an online m ...
. This merge was completed with the shutdown of Yahoo Music Unlimited on September 30, 2008.
In 2011, Yahoo Music became the main CBS Radio player, with its rival
AOL Radio
AOL Radio powered by Slacker (formerly AOL Radio powered by CBS Radio, and prior AOL Radio featuring XM) was an online radio service available in the United States only. It had over 200 free internet radio stations.
History
Roots
AOL Radio ...
switching to
Slacker Radio
LiveOne (formerly known as LiveXLive) is a music streaming platform that combines audio and (sometimes live) video available in the US and Canada. Users can access the service on the web through mobile apps on smartphones and over-the-air device ...
. A year later, Yahoo would switch to
iHeartRadio
iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming Computing platform, platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbr ...
as its music service.
As of September 2018, Yahoo! Music's site has been consolidated into
Yahoo! Entertainment
Yahoo!, once one of the most popular web sites in the United States, is as of September 2021 a content sub-division of the namesake company Yahoo Inc., owned by Apollo Global Management (90%) and Verizon Communications (10%). It has offered a wide ...
's site and all Yahoo! Music's URLs redirect to Yahoo! Entertainment with its own "Music" section.
Music , Yahoo! Entertainment
- (accessed September 21, 2022)
Services
Yahoo Music offered a variety of services, including:
* Artist profiles, music videos and lyrics
* Live Sets – video concerts from A-list artists
* Official Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
coverage
* Pepsi Smash on Yahoo Music – video interviews, performances, and reality segments
* Play – music identifier
* Who's Next – Listeners' vote on emerging artists
* Yahoo! Music Jukebox
Yahoo! Music Jukebox, formerly known as Yahoo! Music Engine, was a freeware music player released by Yahoo! in 2005 to compete with iTunes and Rhapsody in the digital music market. Developed side-by-side with MusicMatch Jukebox, another music play ...
* Yahoo! Music Radio
Yahoo! Music Radio (formerly known as LAUNCHcast) was an Internet radio service offered by Clear Channel Communications' iHeartRadio through Yahoo! Music. The service, formerly offered by LAUNCH Media, and originally developed by Todd Beaupré, ...
(formerly LAUNCHcast; content provided by iHeartRadio
iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming Computing platform, platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbr ...
) and LAUNCHcast Plus Internet radio (until February 2009)
* Yahoo! Music Unlimited
Yahoo! Music Unlimited was an on-demand online music service launched on May 10, 2005 and provided by Yahoo! Music.
The service was discontinued on September 30, 2008.
Service
Users paid a subscription fee to access a library of over two millio ...
subscription streaming and download service
References
External links
*
{{Yahoo!
Music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
American music websites
Music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
Internet properties established in 2001
Internet properties disestablished in 2018