Seattle, Apr 22: Digital media company RealNetworks said on Monday it would buy online music provider Listen.com for $36 million as it jostles for position in the increasingly crowded market for online song sales. Seattle, Washington-based RealNetworks said that it would integrate Listen.com's online music subscription service, Rhapsody, with its own RealOne subscription service, which offers video and games in addition to streaming music.

Rob Glaser, chief executive of RealNetworks, said that recent strides in technology have made recent online music services "better than what you can get for free”. "We're getting close to a tipping point," Glaser told a news agency in a telephone interview.

Various content and technology companies, including AOL Time Warner, Apple Computer, Microsoft and Sony have been angling for a stake in what they see as a huge market for commercial delivery of music and other entertainment content over the Web. While most agree that Web-based delivery represents the future of the music industry, the only breakaway success to date has been by the free, unauthorised services such as Kazaa and now-defunct Napster that record companies blame for a two-year slump in sales.

Analysts see that changing as mainstream services begin to offer more convenience and more flexibility in pricing. Bureau Report