Napster expands UK tracks ahead of iTunes and Connect launches

7 June 2004 11:59 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Napster UK, has announced that its recently launched Napster 2.0 legal online music service has extended its library to over 700,000 tracks - giving it the world's largest online music catalogue. Since its UK launch on May 20 this year, Napster has loaded a further 200,000 tracks to its UK service across a huge range of genres that includes rock, alternative, dance, pop, R&B, jazz, country, blues, and hip-hop, and that features exclusive material from artists as David Bowie, Elbow and The Zutons. UK residents can download the new Napster 2.0 music service for free at www.napster.co.uk and choose between the subscription service with its free 7-day trial, and the Napster Light a la carte download store.

Napster UK has licensing agreements with all five major record companies - BMG, EMI, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music International, and Warner Music International - as well as independent labels body AIM..

“Not only does Napster 2.0 offer UK music fans the widest range of features of any online music service, it also offers the richest, deepest treasure trove of music to delve into,” said Leanne Sharman, Napster vice-president and UK general manager. “Napster 2.0 gives users their own virtual music superstore where there is something for everyone, and we're very grateful to the labels, artists, managers, publishers and other rights holders who have been so quick to add their repertoire to the Napster 2.0 catalogue.”

After downloading the free Napster jukebox at www.napster.co.uk, for just £9.95 a month, Napster subscribers can listen to the world's largest digital music catalogue on demand, and download any track they choose onto the hard drives of up to three PCs and listen offline - to save bandwidth while they surf, or for convenience when on the go. Ten interactive advert-free Napster radio stations allow listeners to see which song is coming next, skip forward or jump back - with favourites easily added to their Napster library with one click. Napster can even build subscribers their own custom radio station on the fly simply on the basis of selecting three songs. Napster's rich community features allow subscribers to browse each others' play lists and even share songs among other Napster users. Subscribers can also listen to and save full-length songs taken from the past 10 years of Official Charts Company UK charts, and can purchase and burn tracks for as little as £0.88 per song when they buy multiple tracks.

If UK music fans elect not to become a subscriber, by downloading Napster for free at www.napster.co.uk, they can still purchase tracks any time they want for £1.09 and albums for £9.95 after listening to free 30-second samples of the Napster UK library. At no cost, Napster Light users can organise their entire music collection in Napster by using the ripping software in the Napster jukebox to take tracks from CDs they already own to play on Napster, import MP3s into their Napster Library, or transfer tracks they've bought to a wide range of portable devices. Napster Light also offers consumers free access to Fuzz, Napster's online magazine; their own Napster Inbox; and the chance to sample the OCC UK charts.

Full tags

Software, Online, Music downloads, Napster