European MP3.com website to close in August, loss of 20 jobs

July 18, 2003

GristyMcFisty used our news submit to tell us that the online music downloading site MP3.com will close down its European operations in mid-August with a loss of 20 jobs. The American operations will not be affected by the closure:

The company was bought by media giant Vivendi Universal for $ 372m in May 2001 but has struggled to gain users to subscribe to its paid-for music services while free alternatives such as Kazaa are still available, and Vivendi is looking for buyers for the US business.

MP3.com floated for $ 344m in July 1999 but soon landed itself in hotwater in legal battles with record companies over copyright infringement and was forced to pay Sony $ 20m in damages in August 2000 in an out of court settlement. It was then ordered to pay $ 250m to Universal music for the same offence.

Vivendi Universal bought the troubled company for $ 5 a share in 2001 but MP3.com has failed to make a profit.

Source: silicon.com