industry online music founded 1999 ; 17 years ago 1999 as free and reconfigured as non free by roxio in 2003 headquarters los angeles california united states key people mike davis ceo 1 products napster napster to go napster mp3 store revenue 111.08 million usd fy 2007 net income 36.83 million usd fy 2007 number of employees 138 2007 parent rhapsody international inc. website www.napster.com napster is an online music store and a rhapsody company branded under the purchased name and trademarks of former free file sharing service napster . contents 1 history 1.1 as a roxio subsidiary 1.2 as a best buy company 1.3 purchase by rhapsody 2 services 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit napster napster 5.0 beta developer s napster inc. stable release 4.6.3.4 august 31 2010 ; 6 years ago 2010 08 31 preview release 5.0 2012 ; 4 years ago 2012 operating system microsoft windows mac os x linux wii u type media player license drm free mp3 wma website napster.com the company s name and logo originated from bankruptcy liquidation of the napster peer to peer file trading service 2 which was shut down after a series of legal actions taken by the riaa . the brand name was later purchased by roxio to capitalize on the popularity of the former service . napster was later acquired by best buy . the service merged with rhapsody in 2011 . as a roxio subsidiary edit roxio bought the assets of the original napster company at its bankruptcy auction in 2002 and the online music service called pressplay in 2003 with the intention of using these assets as the basis of a new legal online music service which would let users access music through a subscription or on a fee per song basis . roxio spent years revamping the company as a non free online music service . this involved a great deal of management re organization and the start of a new business model . roxio spent years developing a network of business partners and relationships to ensure success for their new enterprise . 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 in may 2006 napster launched free napster via the url http free.napster.com but this service was discontinued in march 2010 . it was a free advertising supported web experience which enabled music fans in the usa to stream full length versions of all the songs in napster s catalog of over 8 million tracks three times each without downloading any software or making any service commitment . visitors could also purchase drm free mp3 downloads . as a best buy company edit napster was formerly headed by chris gorog who served as chairman and ceo bradford d. duea who served as president and christopher allen who served as chief operating officer . on january 6 2010 gorog and duea stepped down from their positions . in an interview gorog stated that after we understood the approach best buy was taking with napster it became clear the company didn t need a ceo a president and a coo going forward . 16 allen assumed the position of general manager reporting to chris homeister best buy s senior vice president of merchandising entertainment . 17 18 purchase by rhapsody edit the company was acquired by rhapsody another streaming and download service in 2011 . on july 14 2016 rhapsody formally changed its name to napster joining the 33 countries where it already operated as napster to form one global brand . http blog.napster.com 2016 07 14 wearenapster services edit napster the basic subscription tier offers unlimited listening for 5 7 per month 10 per month in the uk . usa members may also purchase drm free mp3 downloads at a discount . napster also offers an mp3 store a pay per track store which does not require a monthly subscription fee . napster to go the company s portable subscription tier allowed unlimited transfer of music for 8 10 per month 8 per month in the uk this service was discontinued after the takeover by rhapsody . napster s mobile music service napster mobile enables users to search and browse napster s music catalog and preview purchase and play songs on their mobile handset through an integrated music player . see also edit windows media player streaming media drm online music store musicstation comparison of media players references edit napster napster management . porno company offers to buy napster . cnet news.com . september 12 2002 . penn state and napster team up to make legal tunes available to students fairuse4wm strips windows media drm how to steal music ... . sort of audio extravaganza do the math advertisement tmo reports as of january 18 2006 . see press release as of the 2006 fiscal year the last year real broke out dedicated rhapsody subscriber numbers . vance ashlee november 7 2003 . penn state students revolt against napster drm invasion . the register . napster inc july 19 2004 . global napster expands university program with the addition of six schools . press release . viega alex january 25 2006 . napster denies rumors of trouble amid layoffs . san jose mercury news . white michael september 18 2006 . napster hires ubs to evaluate possible company sale . bloomberg . hessaldahl arik september 19 2006 . a needy napster searches for takers . business week . q & a napster ex ceo chris gorog by antony bruno january 19 2010 former napster ceo s dream more of a nightmare when you really think about it by john paczkowski january 6 2010 dignan larry september 15 2008 . best buy acquires napster ; eyes digital music distribution . external links edit official website v t e music digital distribution platforms digital library music download online music store streaming media active 7digital 8tracks . com amazon music anghami apple music arena.com aupeo baidu music bandcamp bandit.fm beatport bleep.com cd baby classical archives claro musica clowdy deezer digitally imported ditto music djshop electric jukebox emusic ghosttunes google play music groove music guvera hdtracks hoopla icecast iheartradio itunes store jamendo juno records kkbox kugou last.fm line music magnatune melon mixcloud mixcrate murfie musicstation music glue mziiki napster nimbit noisetrade onerpm overdrive inc. pandora patari payplay.fm playstation music playster pono qobuz qq music radical.fm radionomy rhapsody sellaband slacker spotify soundcloud style jukebox tidal wimp discontinued amie street beats music blackberry world blinkbox music buymusic gomusicnow grooveshark imeem imesh kazaa live365 mog music unlimited nokia store mixradio playnow arena pressplay puretracks rara rdio simfy songza spiralfrog stardock central streamwaves ubetoo wowloud zune marketplace retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title napster pay service & oldid 744183136 categories streaming music servicesonline music storeswindows softwareinternet properties established in 2003companies based in los angeles2011 disestablishments navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search 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