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Tuesday, November 25, 2003
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Roxio demonstrates Napster 2.0 features
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Roxio explained the basic features of the upcoming Napster 2.0 service in a meeting held in U.S.
Although the initial huge success of Napster, it was petitioned for bankruptcy in June 2002 after the repeated lawsuit from the recording industry. Then, it was applied to auction and Roxio purchased the service. In October, Roxio announced Napster 2.0 as a lawful music service.
Napster 2.0 is using the "Pressplay” membership system music distribution service established by the joint management of Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group. Roxio purchased Pressplay in May and it started it as Napster 2.0. Sony, Universal and EMI have participated as a stockholder of Roxio, keeping up a good relation with Roxio.
The subscription fees of Napster 2.0 are $0.99 per song and $9.95/month.
Users subscribed for $9.95/month are able to enjoy stream playback and download from the library of Napster 2.0. Although competition of "Rhapsody", "iTunes Music Store", "MusicMatch", etc. will be raised, Roxio believes that Napster 2.0 will be the substantial solution.
According to Roxio, more than 300,000 songs have been sold in the debut week of Napster 2.0 on October 29, and the subscribed members are expected to reach the 80,000 by the end of the year.
Moreover, the interface of "Napster 2.0" software was explained, as well as the upcoming interface for Media Center Edition and the plug-in for using Napster service through Windows Media Player in cooperation with Microsoft. Furthermore, Samsung has developed a HDD audio player. The Samsung YP-910 has a 20GB HDD and an FM tuner. The selling price in the U.S. is $399.
Although a credit card billing is required to use Napster 2.0 in the U.S. Roxio will give the chance to alternatively buy a prepaid card for 14.85 dollars from the middle of November.
Napster 2.0 services will be available in Europe less than 8 months. |
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