Napster Contact:
Dana M. Harris / Becky Farina
Napster
310-281-5000
dana.harris@napster.com
becky.farina@napster.com
Natalie A. Svider / Rose Maciejewski
Ruder Finn, Inc.
818-370-2468 / 312-953-1364
svidern@ruderfinn.com
maciejewskir@ruderfinn.com
NAPSTER.COM IS NOW FREE
New Napster.com Allows Free, Legal Listening to Over Two Million Tracks;
Offers Exclusive New Ways to Discover, Share and Experience Music Anywhere on the Web
LOS ANGELES, CA - May 1, 2006 - Napster (NASDAQ: NAPS), unveiled today the new
Napster.com, its interactive, ad-supported, free online music destination. With the
launch, Napster becomes the first legal digital music service to offer music fans free,
on-demand listening to over two million major and independent-label tracks five times
each. A Web-based music player enables Napster music to be easily enjoyed anywhere online
at no cost and also makes purchasing individual tracks and albums and subscribing to
Napster's premium services simple. As part of Napster's comprehensive Web strategy, the
Company announced two additional features of Napster.com, NapsterLinks and the soon to be
released Narchive, two unique and innovative resources designed to help music fans discover
more music and easily share their personal music experiences with other fans. Napster
Chairman and CEO Chris Gorog will formally introduce Napster.com today as part of his keynote
speech at the 2nd annual MUSEXPO event in Los Angeles. The speech will be broadcast live on
the Web at
http://investor.napster.com/ or
http://www.wsw.com/webcast/cc/naps2/.
In addition to listening to free full-length songs and albums, Napster.com members can
search through Napster.com's enormous music catalog and access original artist biographies
and exclusive programming features, including over 150 pre-programmed playlists. The new
Napster.com is easily accessible to music fans using any Web browser on PC, Macintosh or
Linux operating systems, without downloading any software or plug-ins. Listening to
Napster.com's extensive music collection for free simply requires creating a member name
and password and providing a valid e-mail address. Current Napster subscribers can use
their existing member name and password to enjoy Napster.com. The free music experience
is initially being introduced in the United States and will be extended to other territories
over time.
"Napster was born of the idea of eliminating all barriers to discovering, enjoying and
sharing music and of putting the power in the hands of fans," said Chris Gorog, Napster's
chairman and CEO. "With a vision to empower music fans in a legal environment, with an
open, all-inclusive platform, we are very excited to share our new free music experience
at Napster.com."
Napster.com's Exclusive Features Expand the Music Experience
In addition to providing free listening to Napster's massive music library, Napster.com also
offers new features designed to encourage the global music community to enjoy a more
interactive experience.
NapsterLinks (
http://www.napster.com/napsterlinks) enable
anyone to add links to free Napster music to e-mails, instant messages, blogs and websites,
enabling them to bring text to life with free music. NapsterLinks are URLs that link to
specific songs, albums or artists in the Napster.com catalog that can be created using a
simple, free tool available on the Web site. Music fans can now share legal music across
the Web by putting the NapsterLinks they create into any of their electronic communications.
Clicking on a NapsterLink anywhere on the Web causes Napster's Web-based music player to open
and begin playing free Napster music.
The
Narchive (
http://narchive.napster.com)
is a public music archive where everyone is invited to contribute to an ever-expanding "People's
History of Music." Napster.com members are encouraged to add their unique voices to the Narchive
through personal stories, photos and memorabilia. They can also populate their personal entries
with free music links from Napster (NapsterLinks) so all members of Napster.com can simultaneously
listen to the artists they are reading and writing about.
The Narchive, which will be available as a Beta shortly, offers original biographical information
and exclusive photos of artists for anyone to browse. It also features content from some of the
foremost authorities in music, such as writer and editor Neil Feineman, who created many of the
original featured biographies, and renowned photo archivist Michael Ochs, whose extensive galleries
of original photos are featured exclusively in Napster.com.
The Narchive is a community where music fans and experts can all engage in an ongoing, interactive,
audio/visual dialogue about anything and everything in the world of music.
Rounding out Napster's comprehensive music offerings are the
Napster and
Napster To Go
subscription services. With Napster, music fans pay one low monthly price and enjoy a premium music
subscription experience that includes unlimited access to CD-quality music and advanced discovery,
community and programming features. In addition to those premium benefits,
Napster To Go members
also enjoy unlimited transfer of music to compatible MP3 players, without having to purchase individual
tracks and albums a la carte. Both of Napster's premium subscription services are available in a
software application that does not contain any advertising. Music fans can also access
Napster Light
through the ad-free application to purchase individual tracks and albums without paying a monthly fee.
Visitors to Napster.com can quickly and easily download the free software application through the
"subscribe" tab or via links located throughout the Web site.
"With all the progress the digital music industry has made over the past few years, a digital
music model that fully-satisfies everyone - fans, artists, labels and rights holders - has yet
to surface," continued Gorog. "We believe we have taken a significant step toward achieving
this goal and are grateful for the cooperative support of the record industry in making this
a reality."
Ad-Supported Business Model Benefits All
With historical visitation of approximately two million unique visitors per month,
Napster offers advertisers access to millions of music fans and an association with
the most well-known music brand on the Web.
For specific information about advertising opportunities or more information about the
Napster.com free music experience, please visit
www.napster.com.
Napster.com
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
May 1, 2006
Q: If I can listen to each song for free 5 times, what happens when I try to
listen to a song for the sixth time?
A: Upon the sixth request for a song, the Napster Web-based player will
display a message informing you that you have already enjoyed five free listens
of that song, while it plays a 30-second clip. The player will also present you
with the option to become a Napster subscriber and enjoy unlimited listening and
portability of that song and over two million others in Napster’s subscription
catalog, or to purchase the song a la carte for 99 cents.
Q: What format do you use for music in the free music player? What is the bitrate?
A: Napster.com members enjoy free listening of songs and albums in .swf flash
format, delivered at 32kbps.
Q: Once I become a member of Napster.com, do I need to create another member ID
to subscribe to Napster or purchase individual songs and albums?
A: No. When you create a Napster member ID on Napster.com or through the
Napster software application, you can use it across all of Napster’s services.
Q: Do I have to download any software or provide a credit card to use Napster.com?
A: No. You do not need to download any software or plug-ins to enjoy
Napster.com’s free music experience and you will never be asked to provide credit card
information to listen to free music or access the Napster.com Web site.
Q: Can I access Napster.com from any Web browser? Can I access the site and listen
to free music if I am on a Macintosh?
A: The free music and content on Napster.com is available to music fans using a
PC or Macintosh, as well as those running Linux. Likewise, the entire Napster free
music experience can be enjoyed through a variety of Web browsers, including Internet
Explorer, Netscape and Firefox.
Q: Are there any restrictions on the free music available at Napster.com?
A: Napster.com offers music fans the ability to listen for free to every song
in a catalog of over two million tracks five times each, and, thanks to Napster’s
Web-based music player, they can enjoy that free music anywhere on the Web. However,
Napster’s web-player delivers music as streaming flash files that cannot be downloaded
to a computer, burned to a CD or transferred to a portable device.
Q: Where can I get additional information about Napster.com, NapsterLinks and the Narchive?
A: A comprehensive list of frequently asked questions is available at www.napster.com/FAQ.
About Napster
Napster (NASDAQ: NAPS) is committed to making great music experiences more accessible to
all music fans. Napster.com gives web users the power to legally listen on-demand to a
massive catalogue of music from major and independent labels, wherever they are on the
Web- for FREE. The Napster music subscription service offers a premium experience that
includes unlimited access to CD-quality music and advanced discovery, community and
programming features in an advertising-free environment, and
Napster To Go subscribers also
enjoy unlimited transfer of music to a compatible MP3 player. Napster Light, an a la carte
download store, and Napster Mobile, a hosted music service featuring artist images, ring
tones and full-length songs, round out the Napster digital music line-up. Napster is headquartered
in Los Angeles with offices in Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, New York, San Diego and Tokyo.
For more information, please visit
www.napster.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this press release, in particular matters
related to the Company's expected revenue and subscriber growth, decreases in the Company's operating
expenses and cash burn and the launch and growth of a Web-based advertising-supported business are
forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties such as decreased demand
for our products and services; intense competition; failure to develop new products and services; flaws
inherent in our products or services; failure to maintain relationships with content providers; and general
economic conditions; that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Additional
information on these and other factors are contained in Napster's reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q as filed with the SEC on
February 8, 2006, copies of which are available at the website maintained by the SEC at
http://www.sec.gov.
Napster assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements included in this press release.
Copyright © 2006 Napster, LLC. All rights reserved. Napster and Napster Light are either trademarks
or registered trademarks of Napster, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries.
All other trademarks are owned by their respective owners.
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