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Napster UK, Ltd, a subsidiary of Napster, Inc. (Nasdaq: NAPS), the pioneer of digital music, today confirms that the company recorded a 23 per cent revenue increase in its European markets for the fiscal year 2008, ending March 31, 2008.
During fiscal 2008, 400 million tracks were delivered as full-length streams, tethered downloads or purchased tracks. Since inception, more than three million music lovers in six European countries have signed up for the Napster mobile and PC services, while Napster’s user base in the United Kingdom and Germany grew by over 25 per cent in terms of PC-based subscriptions.
After the launch of the online service in the UK (2004) and Germany (2005), Napster successfully launched its mobile music service in Ireland and Portugal in 2006. This service allows simultaneous downloads to the member’s PCs and mobile phones. Napster’s mobile service launched in Switzerland in 2007, and in Italy and the UK during 2008.
Napster’s mobile service in the UK is available via O2, the UK’s largest mobile network, which currently has 18 million subscribers. Mobile customers can browse Napster’s music catalogue and sample any one of the tracks available via a free preview of up to 30 seconds, before either purchasing single tracks or multi track packs at a discounted rate.
Napster’s innovative service, which currently offers over six million tracks, is now firmly established in the market. Napster believes that its popularity has encouraged competitive digital music services to introduce their own subscription offerings, suggesting that the subscription model is a favourite with music consumers.
“Napster is demonstrating strong traction and growth in Europe reflecting a very dynamic market for digital and mobile music," commented Thorsten Schliesche, Napster's Vice President Sales and Marketing Europe and General Manager Napster Germany. "The Napster brand is exceptionally well-known across Europe, and our fiscal 2008 growth rates mark an exciting time for the company and digital music in Europe as a whole. We plan to continue expanding into Europe both by growth in existing markets and by opening up new territories to broaden Napster's reach.”
As part of Napster’s growth strategy, Dan Nash, has joined the team as Senior Marketing Manager to support Napster’s UK mobile strategy. Dan has considerable experience in the mobile market through previous roles at Musiwave and iTouch.
About Napster
Napster, the pioneer of digital music, offers the ultimate in interactive music experiences, creating better ways to discover, share, acquire and enjoy music -- anytime, anywhere. The company's offerings include "Napster" -- the premier online music destination featuring the most popular on-demand music subscription service in the world and the largest, most comprehensive MP3 download store on the market; "Freenapster", a unique Web experience offering free, on-demand music legally in the U.S.; and "Napster Mobile," one of the industry's fastest growing mobile music platforms, providing the premier mobile music experience for customers in 11 global markets. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Napster's services are available in markets across the Americas, Europe and Japan.
Safe Harbor Statement
Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this press release, in particular matters related to Napster's plans to continue expanding in Europe, are forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties such as our limited operating history; failure to develop new products and services; flaws inherent in our products or services; decreased demand for our products and services; failure of our products to interoperate with the hardware products of our customers; the adoption of mobile platforms as a method of digital music purchase, including the rate of adoption of music-enabled mobile phones compatible with the Company's service offerings; intense and varied competition; failure to maintain relationships with strategic partners and content providers; and general economic conditions; that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Additional information on these and other factors are contained in Napster's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K as filed with the SEC on June 11, 2008, copies of which are available at the website maintained by the SEC. Napster assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements included in this press release.
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dan.nash[.]napster.co.uk 
