Rhapsody, the music service from RealNetworks, announced on Monday that it will sell MP3 songs singly, without DRM, as part of its new "Music Without Limits." Any song purchased will play on any Apple iPod or iPhone.

Previously, Rhapsody, joint music venture between RealNetworks and Viacom’s MTV, was a subscription only service. The move is seen as a way to jump start Rhapsody and make it more competitive with iTunes. The change also appears to be a tacit admission that music ownership, in the iTunes style, not subscriptions, is still the favored way to go by music customers.

"Until now, legal digital music has suffered from severe limitations on where consumers could buy it and how they could use it," said Rob Glaser, chairman and CEO of RealNetworks. "Music Without Limits fixes those problems and will make digital music easier and more valuable for consumers.

Songs can be purchased at www.rhapsody.com/mp3 which has a catalog of more than 5 million songs. Most albums will sell for US$9.99 and tracks for US$0.99.

As part of the "Music Without Limits" promotion, Rhapsody said it is giving away a free album to the first 100,000 people who sign up for the new store until July 4.

The subscription service remains unchanged.

Apple has sought the ability to sell DRM-free songs, but because it dominates the online music sales market, all the labels with the exception of EMI, have been reluctant to agree to that.