The Inquisitr » napster

Is Napster the Best Buy for Best Buy?

JR — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:46:11 +0000

As Wall Street takes a tumble with what’s quickly being branded “Black Monday,” Best Buy is announcing a new and slightly out-of-left-field purchase: Napster.

The electronics chain is snatching up the once-thriving music service for $121 million ($2.65 per share), it announced this morning. The move comes just weeks after word of internal turmoil and hints of “strategic alternatives” in the works.

Under the new deal, Best Buy will get all of Napster’s subscribers — said to somehow be in the range of 700,000 — along with its platform and mobile capabilities. Napster’s senior management will move into new roles within Best Buy. The 140 employees at Napster’s LA headquarters are expected to keep their jobs and locations, at least for the time being.

Can the move save the struggling download service, which hasn’t seen its heyday since certain events transpired back in the early part of the century? Let’s be honest: Probably not. It’ll no doubt grow from its current stagnant state — surely the soon-to-come heavy in-store push and packaged deals will help — but all the vending machines in the world won’t let it hold a torch next to the music monster that is iTunes. As Paid Content points out, both Best Buy and Circuit City have played with the idea of digital distribution in the past with little ending effect. The sale can only help Napster in the long run, but one wonders how much it’ll ultimately help Best Buy.

The deal is expected to be completed before the end of the year. Wonder what Shawn Fanning’s thinking right now…

Napster

Napster Sale Could Be In The Works

JR — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:47:08 +0000

Poor old Napster may be back on the auction block again before long. Execs told shareholders via e-mail Friday they may be positioning the company for “strategic alternatives” to its current public status.

The company’s board is currently in a state of turmoil. A few activists are trying to run for leadership spots, claiming that the current management isn’t willing to consider a sale and that they would turn things around. Gee, this all sounds awfully familiar…

In any event, Napster brings back fond memories. Its initial incarnation was a huge step in online filesharing — and, regardless of what tiny Danish drummers may think, it opened up the Internet in an exciting new way. Now, though, it’s hard to imagine the site seeing anything in the way of huge success against the music downloading competition.

Poor, poor Napster. We miss our old friend.

Napster

Napster Offers ABBA in MP3

Dominic Rivera — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:16:21 +0000

Remember ABBA? I do. Napster just announced the debut of the complete catalog by the Swedish disco-group sensation in MP3 format and without DRM restriction.

“We are pleased to make the complete ABBA catalog available both for streaming and for purchase in MP3,” said Napster Vice President of Music Services Matthew Adell. “We strive to give music lovers the best experience and most options for enjoying digital music.”

ABBA achieved greater commercial success than any other international band of the 1970s. With its instantly recognizable synth-pop, light-hearted sound and vocals, ABBA scored a string of international hits like “Dancing Queen,” “Knowing Me, Knowing You,” and “Take a Chance on Me.” The Swedish foursome took the pop-music world by storm with its debut its album, Waterloo, in 1974. The group released six more albums over the next seven years, each of which enjoyed immense popularity in the United Kingdom, United States, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Scandinavian countries.

Now, do you remember them? I do. But I’m not buying. Mamma Mia!

Napster Offers Mobile Videos In Japan

Duncan Riley — Tue, 27 May 2008 10:03:48 +0000

Napster has added video to its unlimited over-the-air mobile subscription service in Japan. The new video service, Napster Clips, gives access to music videos to users of the N906iL onefone model handset from Japan’s NTT DoCoMo.

Napster Clips is a broadband video service that users can view from a full-size browser on NTT DoCoMo’s 3G network or via NTT DoCoMo’s “Home U” service. The first 20,000 applicants of the N906iL onefone handset customers also get a free “Comes With Napster Music and Video” 6-month subscription to Napster’s unlimited over the air Napster To Go audio and video music subscription service.

I would have sworn Napster was deadpool material given some other things I’ve read around the place but I was suprised to learn that the company has been quietly building up its partnerships as it seeks to build a business in a hypercompetitive vertical. NTT DoCoMo is Japan’s AT&T or Telstra so this sort of access should bide them well in one of the worlds most switch on nations.

Napster Launches New DRM-Free Store

JR — Tue, 20 May 2008 15:15:06 +0000

Napster now boasts what it calls the “world’s largest and most comprehensive MP3 store” anywhere.

The online music seller has just launched its new DRM-free MP3 database, meaning the songs will be compatible with most any software, phone, or playing device.

“Music fans have spoken and it’s clear they need the convenience, ease of use and broad interoperability of the DRM-free MP3 format, and they want to be able to find both major label artists and independent music all in one place,” said Napster Chairman and CEO Chris Gorog.

Napster says its new store is more than one-and-a-half times the size of any other online retailer, with more than six million tracks up for grabs. Songs are available for $.99 a piece or about $10 for an entire album.

The Czar Is Coming

JR — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:17:33 +0000

Next time you make an illegal download, the czar may be on your tail.

The U.S. House of Representatives has just passed a bill called the Pro-IP Act with a whopping 410 to 10 vote. The bill would create a new “copyright enforcement division” at the Department of Justice, which would serve as the lair for our impressively titled “copyright enforcement czar.” He and his band of new-age cops would be empowered with tracking down illegal file-sharers and even seizing their property if they see fit.

“Intellectual property protection is among the key issues that will determine America’s competitiveness in the 21st century,” Rep. John Conyers, one of the bill’s authors, released in a statement.

“We feel it’s more important to spend millions of taxpayer dollars finding people who steal 99-cent songs rather than focusing on stopping actual dangerous, violent crime,” he forgot to add.

The Senate still has to sign off on the idea, then it’d go to the president’s desk for approval.

In other file sharing news, Napster guru Shawn Fanning is finally closing in on his long-awaited pay day, according to our friends over at TechCrunch. Fanning’s social network startup Rupture is said to be on the brink of a $30 million buyout by Electronic Arts. It’d be Fanning’s first big success since a five-foot-seven Danish drummer helped put his brainchild into the ground back at the turn of the century.

Image: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

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