Sansae200.jpgBestbuy has partnered up with Realnetworks and Sandisk to join Apple and Microsoft in the mp3 player/music store battle.

It looks like Bestbuy is creating its own version of Itunes with the help of Realnetwork’s Rhapsody Music subscription service and Sandisk’s Sansa mp3 player. The combination would be similiar to Itunes and Ipod, and Microsoft’s soon to be released Zune player, where theres a device tied to a music store to form a complete service.

Both the service and players are to launch Oct 15 with promotions including 2 free months of the subscription service with the purchase of the Sansa 2 gigabyte model (priced at $139.99) or the 8 gigabyte model ($249).

The new music service will be priced at $14.99 a month for the subscription service and 99 cents for an individual song purchase.

Source: Rueters, Arstechnica