From News.com
Roxio says its revamped online music service, Napster, will debut in time for the holiday season and will give people access to music through a subscription or via an a la carte option.
The new service, Napster 2.0, will likely debut with the largest legal music catalog in the world with close to half a million songs, Chris Gorog, chief executive of CD-burning software company Roxio, said Monday.
He declined to comment on the price of a subscription or of the per-song option for the relaunch of Napster, the song-swapping pioneer shut down by copyright infringement lawsuits in 2001.
The details of the launch come amid plans later this year for online music services from several other players including AOL Time Warner’s America Online and services from retailers such as Amazon.com.
People who use Napster’s new service will be able to search for music, listen to preprogrammed radio customized to their tastes, and burn CDs and download music to devices, Gorog said.
“It will be very reflective of the key characteristics of the original Napster…independence, innovation and freedom of choice,” Gorog said.
