GristyMcFisty used our news submit to tell us that Napster is set to
launch its German online music store later in the year. The expansion into
Germany follows a deal in which
Napster sold around 7.1 million shares to investors for $52.5 million.
Along with this extra cash Napster will also fund the launch of its Napster to
go service which uses Windows Media 10 for portable
devices.
Reports that have come
out also show that Napster is exploring both the game and movie download
market as a possible next step. The starting push into Germany started
with Napster employing Thorsten Schliesche to run Napster Germany. Thorsten
Schliesche was the former chief of Deutsche Telekom ISP T-Online music
content division. Napster did not give any detail on the launch just to say
that it would be later in 2005.
 Napster will launch a German online store "later this year", the digital music company said today.The move follows the striking of a deal between the company and unnamed "institutional investors" for the sale of 7.1m Napster shares for $52.2m. Napster said the proceeds will be used for fund the development of the company"s business, including the formal launch of Napster To Go, the company"s Windows Media 10-based portable subscription service.
Reports today suggest Napster is also
exploring movie and game downloads in addition to the music it offers
today. It"s a smart move, though one that risks diluting what the company
claims "is the biggest brand in digital music". Still, Amazon.com managed
to expand well beyond books without such dilution, so it"s not
unreasonable to expect Napster might not make such a cross-media shift
work equally well.The push into Germany kicked off with the appointment of
former Deutsche Telekom ISP T-Online music content chief Thorsten
Schliesche to run the Frankfurt-headquartered German service. Napster
provided no broader timeframe for the launch than some point in
2005. |
With Apple pretty much dominating the european market with iTunes i wonder if
Napster will have a chance.
Source: The Register
