Rara (service)

rara
Dissolved29 March 2015; 9 years ago (2015-03-29)
Area servedWeb, iOS, Android, Windows 8
12 more countries including from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Singapore, Sweden, UK, USA
OwnerOmnifone (Original owner)
Key peopleJez Bell (CEO)
Rob Lewis[1] (Chairman)
Launched13 December 2011; 12 years ago (2011-12-13)

rara was a music streaming media service. It operated between December 2011 and March 2015. It offered ad-free, on-demand music streaming from a range of major and independent record labels, including Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI Music and Warner Music Group, global rights agency Merlin and independent digital distributors The Orchard, INgrooves Fontana, Believe Digital, [PIAS] and VidZone Digital Media.[2]

Launched in December 2011[3] by British company rara Media Group Limited, the service featured an initial music catalogue of approximately 10 million tracks.[4] As of October 2013, the catalogue offered 22 million tracks and was available in 32 countries.[5] The system was accessible on both PC and Mac via the web with apps for Windows 8, iOS, and Android.[6] A rara "web" subscription provided unlimited music streaming via the web to PC and Mac while a "premium" subscription enabled access to rara mobile apps as well as offline access to music.[7]

In between February and March 2015, rara stopped accepting new subscribers and announced that the service was up for sale.[8][9][10] Music streaming stopped on 29 March.

  1. ^ Rara launches: Spotify music-streaming rival aims for mass-market appeal. Music Week 13 December 2011
  2. ^ Music service Rara faces challenge to turn free in to $0.99 Archived 16 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Paid Content 23 October 2012
  3. ^ Music service Rara.com aims for digital non-adopters. BBC News 13 December 2011
  4. ^ Rara.com ‘will take on iTunes and Spotify’ music services[dead link]. Daily Telegraph 13 December 2011
  5. ^ rara partners with Toshiba. Music Week 11 October 2013
  6. ^ Rara.com expands to iOS, Windows 8 and more countries. Engadget 24 October 2012
  7. ^ Australian music-streaming services compared. CNET 30 October 2012
  8. ^ Rara will be shut or sold as ceo Jez Bell exits Music Business Worldwide on 13 March 2015
  9. ^ Rara up for sale CMU "Complete Music Update" on 16 February 2015
  10. ^ Omnifone ceo sees bright future despite falling revenues and loss of big clients Music :) ally on 13 February 2015