Japan

Leading music subscription services are ramping up their global expansions.

GigaOm reports Rhapsody will launch in 16 additional European countries in the first half of this year (but didn't mention which). This is the first "proper international launch" for Rhapsody, which is in the UK and Germany by way of acquiring Napster, (the brand under which it operates in those nations).

Meanwhile, Rhapsody competitors Spotify and Rdio are both rumored to be entering the Japanese market in the coming months. Sony's Music Unlimited is currently Japanese music subscribers' only option. Spotify is in 20 countries worldwide, Rdio in 17.

Read more on the Rhapsody news in GigaOm here; more on Spotify and Rdio in Japan Daily Press here.

Radiko, a Japanese Internet radio aggregator, says it attracted nearly 10.5 million listeners in April. That's reportedly up 50% year-over-year.

The service offers station streams from 65 broadcasters across Japan. It launched in March 2010.

The Japan Times writes that Radiko "has been growing in popularity since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, which generated renewed interest in radio as a means of collecting information during disasters."

Radiko also points to the spread of smartphones as a contributor to its growth. The service offers apps for Android and Apple mobile devices. You can find more coverage from the Japan Times here.