Napster to shut up shop or sell business? Job losses Looming?

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Posted by	Quakester2000
Posted on	16/01/06 19:59
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Napster to shut up shop or sell business? Job losses Looming?

Napster has denied claims that a major reorganisation of the business is in progress that could see a large number of employees losing their jobs. They have also strongly denied that there are any plans to shut the business down or sell it on. The allegations came from sources supposedly close to the action according to Digital Music News.

A Napster insider has said that these stories sound like New Year speculation and that this year Napster will be expanding with new products on the way. While this internal source paints a positive picture other sources in the industry have heard such allegations such as job cuts looming especially in their UK division.

While Napster's financial results are not currently available for the 3^rd Quarter which ended 31st December 2005 they will be next month. Unless Napster did some terrific business during Christmas it may suffer like it did in the 2nd Quarter where it made a net loss of $13.61m on revenues of $23.38m.

While Napster may be having a hard time Apple iTunes isn't with Steve Jobs announcing last week that the iTunes service had taken 83% of the US market. This leaves Napster,Yahoo, Real and the others to fight it out for the remaining 17% of the market. In the UK Napster's market share is just 10% according to research, while Apple iTunes has a 54% market share. While 10% sounds low it still gives Napster 2nd place in the UK market in front of Wippit.

Just last month Napster expanded into Germany the fourth market it has entered after launching in the US, Canada and the UK.

Napster has denied claims that the digital music company is on the verge of a major shake-up that could see large numbers of employees lose their jobs. It also rejected allegations that Napster's bosses are planning to sell the business - or shut it down. The charges were made this weekend by sources said a report at website Digital Music News to be "close to the situation".

But while one Napster insider said the claims sound like "idle New Year speculation... all the plans I know of for Napster in 2006 relate to new products and expansion", industry sources told The Register they too have heard such allegations, in particular that the company is making job-cuts here in the UK.

Results for Napster's most recently completed quarter, Q3 FY2006, which ended 31 December 2005, are due to be made public early next month. The company's second quarter, ended 30 September 2005, led it to report a net loss of $13.61m (32 cents a share) on revenues of $23.38m.

Last week, Apple CEO Steve Jobs claimed the iTunes Music Store has an 83 per cent share of the US digital music download market. That leaves Napster battling the likes of RealNetworks, Virgin Digital, Yahoo! Music, WalMart and others for the remaining 17 per cent. UK-specific research put Napster's local share at ten per cent, well behind ITMS' 54 per cent share of the market, but still in second place, just ahead of UK digital music pioneer Wippit.

Last month, Napster set up shop in Germany, the fourth market the company has entered after launching in the US, the UK and Canada.

Source: The Register

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Posted by bkf on Monday 16 January 2006 20:45

Does this mean I can finally remove the Napster link / program (that I never once used) that my legel puchased disk of Roxio felt compelled to install for me? This is going to require a hack or two because the last time I tried to remove it Roxio decided to stop working.

Posted by kamikazee on Tuesday 17 January 2006 03:43

It can be cleanly removed thru add / remove programs, it has never been a problem removing that way. sounds like there may be more to your problem. Or how about when you install do a custom and don't allow it to be installed in the first place. Sonic bought Roxio not Napster.

Posted by bkf on Wednesday 18 January 2006 14:25

Kamik: If it was only that easy. In any case it's dead and gone now. Two reg hacks. One to kill it, the other to remove it. It was really buried well in there.

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