Time flies! Would you believe it's been a full ten years since Real first got content streaming going on the Internet? How has streaming fared over this period? How does this decade old technology compete with the music-on-the-go iPods and its ilk? Larry Magid is back on this week's edition of Larry's World interviewing the man who started it all - Rob Glaser, founder and CEO of Real Networks.

Is streaming just a transmission technology? Or has it become the vehicle of democratization in music? Rob Glaser talks about how consumers are being weaned away from the top down, scheduled content traditionally favored by old media. The online music revolution is changing the very nature of music taking away the recording industry's traditional focus on producing hits and letting everyone, including struggling artists, try to get their music listened to.

But how is it faring against the heavyweight competition from iTunes? Is its recent Rhapsody-to-go scheme an admission that streaming may not be all that its touted to be? By getting into the to-go music business has it started facing heat from the recording industry?

If online music continues this way, will movies mimic the same usage model? Rob Glaser quotes interesting statistics and data as he winds up his sales pitch answering the big question - what will happen to broadcast radio and TV?

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Rob Glaser is the founder and CEO of RealNetworks, Inc. Since founding Real in 1994, Glaser has played an integral role in the transformation of the Internet into the next great mass medium. In 1995 under Glaser's direction, Real introduced the groundbreaking RealAudio. Followed by, RealVideo, RealPlayer and the systems to distribute audio and video including the Helix technologies, RealNetworks has continued to innovate and bring technologies to market. Additionally in 2000, RealNetworks began offering aggregated premium content online directly to consumers in a subscription service. In 2003, RealNetworks purchased Listen.com and built the Rhapsody music service into the leading music subscription service. With the combination of technology and business systems for monetizing media, RealNetworks and Rob Glaser are at the forefront of the Internet media revolution. Prior to founding RealNetworks, Inc., Mr. Glaser worked for Microsoft for 10 years in a number of executive positions, including Vice President of Multimedia and Consumer Systems. Mr. Glaser has served on several non-profit boards and committees, including his appointment by President Clinton to the Advisory Committee on Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters.

Resources:

• Real Networks corporate site
• Real's Rhapsody music streaming service

This program is from the Larry's World series.

For Team ITC:

• Description editor: Arun Tanksali
• Post-production audio engineer: Paul Figgiani