Napster Challenges Apple's ITunes With MP3 Store

Struggling music subscription service provider Napster thinks it has what it takes to finally challenge Apple's dominant iTunes Store. The Los Angeles-based company on Tuesday launched what it is calling "the world's largest and most comprehensive MP3 store," available online at www.napster.com/store.

"Our goal is to enrich your life with music, in ways that are personalized to you," said Napster COO Christopher Allen Tuesday in a statement. "Napster now offers a truly complete and synergistic digital music destination, where music lovers can not only discover and listen to music, but also buy and own everything they want in MP3 format, which works on any music player. The combination offers consumers the best of both worlds."

The store features 6 million downloadable songs in DRM-free MP3 format, or 50 percent more than "any other MP3 store," according to Napster. Apple's iTunes also has a catalog of some 6 million songs, but only about 2 million are DRM-free and the bulk are in the less cross-platform compatible AAC format.

Napster, by making what appears to be its entire catalog available for a price as DRM-free music files, will offer customers songs that can be played on any device, including iPods. Apple's AAC files can be converted by purchasers to DRM-free versions when those become available, but with a 30 percent surcharge.

Napster won't charge a monthly fee for browsing the new download store as it does for its existing unlimited-subscription service, which costs $12.95 for an on-demand streaming service and $14.95 for a portable syncing service. Pricing for download sales will remain at 99 cents for MP3 singles and $9.95 for "most" albums, according to the vendor. The "vast majority" of the company's catalog "is available at a high-quality 256kbps bitrate," according to Napster.

Napster has also revised its Web interface, which means store visitors no longer have to download software to browse. Windows, Mac OS and Linux running Firefox 2.x or Internet Explorer 7.x are all supported. Non-subscribers can preview music at Napster in 30 second clips. The portable device syncing service still requires a download of Napster software which runs only on Windows XP or Vista and requires Windows Media Player 10.

"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. Napster is delighted to deliver all of this and more with the world's largest MP3 catalog," said Napster CEO Chris Gorog in a statement.

The Napster brand, formerly associated with the pioneering peer-to-peer file sharing service built by Shawn Fanning and others, was purchased and reconfigured in 2003 by a company called Roxio following Napster's extensive legal battles with the recording industry and subsequent bankruptcy auction in 2002. Roxio has since changed its name to Napster.