Napster changes the music marketing mix

Napster, the pioneer of digital music, offers the ultimate in interactive music experiences, creating better ways to discover, share, acquire and enjoy music anytime, anywhere. The company's flagship service, Napster, is the ultimate digital music package, offering unlimited on-demand music streaming as well as downloadable MP3s for one's permanent collection playable on any MP3 compatible device, including iPod, iPhone and all MP3 music-enabled mobile phones. 

The company's online service is available in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany and Japan. Napster Mobile, one of the industry's fastest growing mobile music platforms, provides the premier mobile music experience for customers in select markets around the world. A wholly owned subsidiary of Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY), Napster is headquartered in Los Angeles.

Over the last few years, free ad-supported streaming services have sprouted up all over the web, creating many buzz-worthy moments in the digital media world. Most challenging for these free services is that, as of yet, no service has “cracked the nut” and figured out how to create a profitable business model by giving away music for free. I believe a high-quality paid streaming experience is a great solution for many people, particularly since Napster was recently able to dramatically drive the price down to create an outstanding value. A great paid streaming experience like Napster provides high quality on-demand streaming without ads, play restrictions, poor bit rates and the like, and represents a great alternative to some of the pitfalls of the free services.

Napster users can even share songs and playlists back and forth to continue enhancing discovery and making the experience a highly personal one. “My Page” customizes the Napster experience for users so they can enjoy their own personal version of Napster based on their actual interaction with the service.  While we always have a lot more we want to do, we think Napster is in a great place right now.