Katana VentraIP

Napster (pay service)

Napster, commonly known as “Napster 2.0”,[2][3] was a music streaming service and digital music store, launched by Roxio in 2003 under the purchased name and trademarks of former free peer-to-peer file sharing software Napster in the aftermath of the latter's 2002 bankruptcy and subsequent shut down after a series of legal actions taken by the RIAA.[4] Roxio purchased Napster and a music streaming service called PressPlay in 2003,[3] to create a new legal online music service that lets users access music through a subscription or on a fee-per-song basis. Napster was later acquired by Best Buy. The service was acquired by rival Rhapsody in 2011.

This article is about the defunct pay service operating as Napster. For the defunct peer-to-peer music download software, see Napster. For the current service operated as Napster, see Napster (streaming music service).

Company type

Online music

March 2003 (2003-03)

November 2011 (2011-November)

Los Angeles, California, United States

Mike Davis, CEO[1]

Napster
Napster to Go
Napster MP3 Store

Increase$111.08 million USD (FY 2007)

Decrease$36.83 million USD (FY 2007)

138 (2007)

Best Buy (2008–2011)
Roxio (2003–2008)

4.6.3.4 / August 31, 2010 (2010-08-31)
5.0 / 2012 (2012)

DRM-free MP3, WMA

Windows Media Player

Streaming media

DRM

Online music store

MusicStation

Comparison of media players

Official website