Another year, another iteration of Napster. The pioneering file sharing program that has existed the past couple of years as a music subscription service will relaunch with a web-based client, according to our network blog last100:
"In yet another attempt to return to glory, Napster will rely less on its desktop client in favor of a Web-based approach as it hopes to attract more paying subscribers.
Napster seeks to make its platform more flexible and compatible with any Internet-enabled device with the release of Version 4.0. The move will allow Napster’s 770,000 subscribers to play their music from any computer without having to download additional software. Before today, Napster subscribers could only listen to their music after downloading the desktop client to their personal computers, although the Napster software is still required to transfer music from the service to compatible devices."
Napster COO Chris Allen said during a press conference that he expects the music industry to be free of DRM by the end of next year. That's an odd thing for Allen to say given that Napster runs a subscription service that relies on DRM to work. If Napster is really getting ready for a DRM-free world, they will have to change their business model. For more, check out the post at last100.
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