Along with RealNetworks' RealAudio (on the RealPlayer), Liquid Audio was one of the two emerging online audio standards in the 1990s.
It comprises a music player and library manager, similar to iTunes, Windows Media Player and RealPlayer.
Developed by a joint venture between the Impress Group and the Watanabe Productions Group, the Web site provided videos from various content provider and producers, using software including RealPlayer, VDOlive Player, and FutureSplash (now Adobe Flash.) The service started in the end of the 1990s, hence the low-quality streaming videos to accommodate the Internet users mostly connecting via dial-up service.