Napster (pay service)
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| Type | Subsidiary of Best Buy |
|---|---|
| Founded | Reconfigured by Roxio in 2003 |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Key people | Chris Gorog, Chairman & CEO |
| Industry | Online Music |
| Products | Napster Napster to Go Napster MP3 Store Free Napster |
| Revenue | ▲$111.08 million USD (FY 2007) |
| Net income | ▼$36.83 million USD (FY 2007) |
| Employees | 138 (2007) |
| Website | www.napster.com |
Napster, Inc. is an online music service offering a variety of purchase and subscription models. The company's name and logo originated from bankruptcy liquidation of the Napster peer-to-peer file trading service,[1] which was shut down after a series of legal actions taken by the RIAA. The brand name was later purchased by Roxio, to capitalize on the popularity of the former service. The service currently has a music catalogue of over 8,000,000 songs, making it one of the largest online music stores. Napster, Inc. was purchased by Best Buy.
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[edit] History
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This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this article to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (September 2009) |
Roxio bought the assets of the original Napster company at its bankruptcy auction in 2002 and the online music service called pressplay in 2003, with the intention of using these assets as the basis of a new legal online music service which would let users access music through a subscription or on a fee-per-song basis;and thus giving the record companies and the artists/composers (or their estates) the royalties they had been asking for as iTunes does. It was the second legal music download service to gain widespread popularity, launched six months after the iTunes Store.[citation needed]
The Napster multi-platform subscription service is currently available in the U.S., UK, Canada, Germany and Japan.[citation needed]
February 23, 2004 - Roxio announced that Napster 2.0 had sold 5 million tracks since its launch in October, 2003, and attracted roughly 1.5 million customers.[citation needed]
May 20, 2004 - Napster announced that it had set up a British service ahead of iTunes to compete with the British legal download market leader OD2 co-owned by Peter Gabriel.[citation needed]
May 26, 2004 - Napster announced the launch of Napster Canada, Canada's first on-demand music subscription service.[citation needed]
August 9, 2004 - Roxio announced that Sonic Solutions would acquire the consumer software division of Roxio for a total purchase price of $80 million.[citation needed]
January 3, 2005 - Napster began trading on Nasdaq under the new ticker "NAPS".[citation needed]
February 3, 2005 - Napster announced the launch of Napster To Go, the world's first digital music portable subscription service. The release was accompanied by a major $30 million marketing campaign supported by strategic alliances with leading consumer electronics manufacturers Creative, Dell and iriver. The launch was supported by a fully-integrated marketing program, led by a February 6, 2005 Super Bowl television advertisement.[citation needed]
July 27, 2005 - Napster announced a long-term, strategic partnership with XM Satellite Radio and the intention to launch "XM + Napster," a single interface for accessing, purchasing, and managing music from XM and Napster.[citation needed]
December 9, 2005 - Napster announced the launch of Napster Germany, that country's first flat-rate digital music service.[citation needed]
January 18, 2006 - Napster announced that the number of premium paid subscribers surpassed 500,000.[citation needed]
February 13, 2006 - Napster and partner Ericsson announced the availability of the Napster Mobile music service to wireless carriers across select markets in Europe, North America and Asia. The two companies simultaneously announced that SunCom Wireless in the U.S. was the first to agree to offer the Napster Mobile service to its subscribers.[citation needed]
May 12, 2006 - Napster unveiled the new Napster.com, an interactive, ad-supported, free online music destination. The company also introduced NapsterLinks, URLs which link to specific songs, albums or artists in the Napster.com catalog which can be embedded in e-mails, instant messages, blogs and other Web sites.[citation needed]
June 27, 2006 - Napster announced the immediate availability of Napster 3.7, an updated version of its PC application featuring PowerSync, an optimized sync engine developed in-house which optimized the process of transferring subscription music content to compatible MP3 players.
September 18, 2006 - Napster announced that it had retained UBS Investment Bank to assist the Board and management in its evaluation of strategic alternatives.[citation needed]
October 2, 2006 - Napster Opens First Music Subscription Service in Japan[citation needed]
October 31, 2006 - Napster announced the debut of a sponsored "Free Download of the Day" feature on www.Napster.com, the Web-based free music experience the award-winning digital music service launched earlier this year.[citation needed]
November 6, 2006 - Napster announced the launch of Napster Mobile on iMode, NTT DoCoMo's mobile internet platform currently used by over 40 million of its over 52 million mobile subscribers across Japan.[citation needed]
November 8, 2006 - Napster reported financial results for its fiscal second quarter ended September 30, 2006. Net revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2007 was $25.5 million, up 9% from $23.4 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2006.[citation needed]
December 12, 2006 - Napster announced that Napster Mobile will celebrate its first European launch later this month when it debuts on Telefonica's O2 mobile network in Ireland.[citation needed]
December 19, 2006 - Napster announced the winners of the "2006 Napster Awards," the first awards to honor artists and songs for accomplishments in digital music.[citation needed]
January 12, 2007 - AOL and Napster, announced that Napster will become the exclusive music subscription provider integrated into AOL Music, replacing AOL Music Now(R).[citation needed]
January 24, 2007 - Napster announced the launch of Napster Mobile on au/KDDI, the second largest mobile network in Japan with over 20 million mobile phone subscribers.[citation needed]
February08, 2007 - Napster reported financial results for its fiscal third quarter ended[citation needed]
December 31, 2006. Net revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2007 was a record $28.4 million, up 21% from $23.5 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2006.[citation needed]
April 20, 2007 - Circuit City Stores, Inc. announced that it is joining with Napster to offer a new digital music service, Circuit City + Napster, for consumers to explore and enjoy music.[3]
April 23, 2007 - Napster announced that the company will soon launch the first deployment of its over-the-air (OTA) music subscription service through Napster Japan, a joint venture between the company and Tower Records Japan, with NTT DoCoMo.[citation needed]
May 15, 2007 – Napster and Motorola, Inc., a global leader in wireless communications, announced a unique marketing agreement that will bring Napster's industry-leading on demand music subscription service to mobile consumers.[citation needed]
May 16, 2007 - Napster reported financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 2007. Net revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007 grew to $29.1 million, up 9 percent from $26.8 million in the prior year quarter and up from $28.4 million.[citation needed]
June 5, 2007 - Ericsson and Napster announced an agreement with Swisscom Mobile, the largest Swiss mobile operator, to become the company's exclusive mobile music service provider with Napster Mobile.[citation needed]
July 12, 2007 - Napster confirmed that the company's unlimited over-the-air (OTA) music subscription service launched with NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest wireless carrier, and is now available across the complete line of DoCoMo's 904i handsets.[citation needed]
July 31, 2007 - Napster confirmed a broad marketing campaign with Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division, that will put the Napster To Go digital music service at the fingertips of customers.[citation needed]
August 1, 2007 - Napster reported financial results for its fiscal first quarter ended June 30, 2007. "Napster hit record revenues of $32.3 million, posted its first quarter of positive cash flow and substantially narrowed its loss on a sequential and year-over-year basis.”[citation needed]
August 3, 2007 - Napster announced that Christopher Allen will join the Company as Chief Operating Officer effective August 6, 2007. Mr. Allen will be responsible for product strategy, development and marketing and will report to Chris Gorog, Napster's Chairman and CEO.[citation needed]
October 16, 2007 - Napster unveiled a major redesign of the industry's leading music subscription service with the launch of Napster 4.0, a feature-rich web-based service that allows subscribers to access and play their music on any internet-connected computer without downloading any software.[citation needed]
October 22, 2007 - AT&T Inc. announced that wireless customers will soon be able to download more than 5 million full-track songs over the air from Napster.[citation needed]
October 23, 2007 - Napster and Sonos, Inc., the leading developer of wireless multi-room music systems for the digital home announced the integration of Napster into the Sonos Digital Music System.[citation needed]
November 13, 2007 - Napster announced that the timeless catalog of Vee-Jay Records will be available in digital format for streaming and downloading for the first time beginning.[citation needed]
December 5, 2007 - Napster announced that it will provide music content for a new mobile music feature that will be available to customers of Japan's leading wireless carrier, NTT DoCoMo beginning on December 1.[citation needed]
December 10, 2007 - Napster announced that Nand Gangwani has resigned as vice president and chief financial officer effective at the end of the calendar year.[citation needed]
January 7, 2008 – Napster announced that it will shift its entire download sales catalog on its award-winning PC service to the MP3 format in the second calendar quarter of 2008.[citation needed]
January 24, 2008 - Napster announced that the company's mobile music subscription service is available to NTT DoCoMo customers through nine new models of the mobile company's line of music-enabled handsets.[citation needed]
January 28, 2008 - Ericsson and Napster announced the launch of the Napster Mobile music service with Telecom Italia through its mobile brand TIM, the leading mobile carrier serving the Italian market with over 35 million subscribers.[citation needed]
February 4, 2008 - Napster and Ericsson announced the launch of the Napster Mobile music service with leading Chilean operator Entel PCS to provide the Napster Mobile music service in Latin America for the first time.[citation needed]
March 14, 2008 - Napster and Ericsson announced the launch of the Napster Mobile music service with O2 UK, the leading wireless carrier serving the UK market with more than 18 million subscribers.[citation needed]
April 3, 2008 - Napster provided a preliminary outlook for its fiscal fourth quarter and year ended March 31, 2008. Napster expects that revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 will be approximately $31 million. This is at the high end of the company's prior guidance.[citation needed]
September 15, 2008 - Napster is purchased by Best Buy for $121 million.[2]
January 28, 2009 - Napster unveils Napster 4 to UK customers, including access to their now 8-million track catalogue from any browser.
October 8, 2009 - Napster cuts price of basic UK subscriptions to £5 per month. [3]
| Developer(s) | Napster, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 4.5 / May 2008 |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows XP, and Windows Vista |
| Type | Media player |
| License | DRM-free MP3, WMA |
| Website | Napster.com |
[edit] Napster Services
Napster, the basic subscription tier, offers unlimited listening for $5-7 per month (£9.95 per month in the UK). Members may also purchase DRM-free MP3 downloads at a discount.
Napster To Go, the company's portable subscription tier, allows unlimited transfer of music for $14.95 per month (£14.95 per month in the UK) Users may transfer to their choice of PlaysForSure-compatible digital audio players, cell phones and PDAs in addition to unlimited streaming. Members may also purchase DRM-free MP3 downloads at a discount.
Napster also offers an MP3 store, a pay-per-track store which does not require a monthly subscription fee.
In May 2006, Napster launched Free Napster (Free.Napster.com), a free, advertising-supported Web experience which enables music fans in the USA to stream full-length versions of all the songs in Napster's catalog of over 8 million tracks three times each, without downloading any software or making any service commitment. Visitors may also purchase DRM-free MP3 downloads.
Napster also offers a mobile music service, Napster Mobile, which enables users to search and browse Napster’s music catalog and preview, purchase and play songs on their mobile handset through an integrated music player. Napster Mobile is a fully-integrated, dual-delivery service available to wireless operators across the globe.
[edit] Sales
On April 3, 2007 Napster reported it had over 830,000 paid subscribers. Press Release.
[edit] Management Reorganization after Acquisition by Best Buy
Napster was formerly headed by Chris Gorog who served as Chairman and CEO, Bradford D. Duea who served as President and Christopher Allen who served as Chief Operating Officer. On January 6, 2010, Gorog and Duea stepped down from their positions. In an interview, Gorog stated that "After we understood the approach Best Buy was taking with Napster, it became clear the company didn't need a CEO, a president and a COO going forward" [4]. Allen assumed the position of "General Manager," reporting to Chris Homeister, Best Buy's senior vice president of merchandising entertainment [5].
[edit] Expansion
Napster since inception has increased the size of the company by expanding to other countries.
These countries currently receive service:
The UK version now includes the abitilty to buy DRM free MP3s
[edit] Sources
- ^ Penn State and Napster team up to make legal tunes available to students
- ^ FairUse4WM strips Windows Media DRM!
- ^ /How To Steal Music..... Sort Of
- ^ Audio extravaganza!
- ^ Do the Math advertisement
- ^ TMO reports
- ^ As of January 18, 2006. See press release.
- ^ As of the 2006 fiscal year, the last year Real broke out dedicated Rhapsody subscriber numbers.
- ^ Vance, Ashlee (November 7, 2003). "Penn State students revolt against Napster, DRM invasion". The Register. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/11/07/penn_state_students_revolt_against/.
- ^ Napster, Inc (July 19, 2004). Global Napster Expands University Program with the Addition of Six Schools. Press Release.
- ^ Viega, Alex (January 25, 2006). "Napster denies rumors of trouble amid layoffs". San Jose Mercury News. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/13711562.htm.
- ^ White, Michael (September 18, 2006). "Napster Hires UBS to Evaluate Possible Company Sale". Bloomberg. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a9tR36Po_wRU.
- ^ Hessaldahl, Arik (September 19, 2006). "A Needy Napster Searches for Takers". Business Week. http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2006/tc20060919_053475.htm.
- ^ Dignan, Larry (September 15, 2008). "Best Buy acquires Napster; Eyes digital music distribution". http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=10026.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Porno company offers to buy Napster". CNET News.com. September 12, 2002. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-957784.html?tag=fd_top.
- ^ Dingan, Larry: "Best Buy acquires Napster; Eyes digital music distribution", Between the Lines, ZDNet, 2008, http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=10026
- ^ Napster offers cut-price service|http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/technology/newsid_10000000/newsid_10002200/10002252.stm
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
[edit] External links
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