Napster (online music service)
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| legal form | Trademark of Rhapsody International, Inc. |
| founding | 1999, start as a payment service: 2003 |
| Seat | Seattle, Washington , USA |
| management | David Hose, CEO |
| Branch | Entertainment industry |
| Website | www.napster.de |
Napster is a trademark of the US publicly traded company Rhapsody International, Inc. The name and the company logo come from the well-known peer-to-peer music exchange Napster , which was closed in July 2001 after legal disputes. Rhapsody International offers an online music service in the US , Canada , the UK and Germany that includes subscription offerings. In the UK and Germany, the service is offered under the Napster brand name. In Germany, Napster competes with Apple Music , Deezer , Spotify , Musicload and others. Interfaces to the music flat rate from Napster are also integrated in TV and audio systems.
history
At the end of October 2000, Napster signed a cooperation agreement with the Bertelsmann eCommerce Group . The aim of the cooperation was to set up a paid subscription system in the same year, which was to digitally distribute the titles of the artists under contract with the Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) while guaranteeing the royalty payments. In this context, BMG withdrew its lawsuit against Napster.
AOL Time Warner , Bertelsmann, the EMI Group and RealNetworks then founded a new online platform for selling music on the Internet. The “MusicNet” platform was supposed to grant licenses to other companies that sell music to subscribers online under their own brand names. In June Musicnet and Napster concluded a cooperation agreement, according to which the music exchange market should offer songs from the record companies Warner Music (AOL Time Warner), BMG Entertainment and the EMI Group in their planned fee-based service.
At the end of October 2001, the Bertelsmann eCommerce Group (BeCG) concluded a licensing and distribution agreement with the music exchange, according to which the group's music distribution companies, which had merged to form the BeMusicDivison, were to use the new version of the Napster platform for their online activities from the beginning of 2002. These included the businesses of BMG Direct, CDnow and MyPlay in the areas of eCommerce, subscription services and music clubs. Functions such as instant messaging, so-called music hot lists , chat, search functions, playlists and access to music libraries should be used. However, BeMusic did not use peer-to-peer functions for direct exchange between customers. Napster itself should be reactivated with the new distribution technology after the negotiations with the music labels about music licenses for the planned commercial subscription offer.
In January 2002 Napster started testing its new service: 20,000 users were able to access a music catalog of 110,000 titles from several smaller labels. In addition to MP3, the new software now supports the proprietary NAP format. The MP3 exchange was still possible, but Napster filtered copyrighted songs. More difficult than expected were the negotiations with the "Major Five", the largest record labels, who initially refused to license music other than on a per-song basis.
At the beginning of May of the same year, Napster was to be sold 100% to the Bertelsmann Group. The takeover attempt initially failed because of the Napster supervisory board, which rejected the purchase offer by a majority. As a result, the Napster CEO Konrad Hilbers, founder Shawn Fanning , and four other top managers resigned in protest against the decision of the Supervisory Board. As part of the takeover plan, Napster committed bankruptcy protection to apply under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. This also made the lawsuits of the music industry against Napster obsolete, as there were no more funds available to pay off claims. At the beginning of September, the takeover plans failed: A bankruptcy judge rejected the purchase of the music exchange by the media group.
A court in the US state of Maryland gave the company more time to reorganize under the bankruptcy law. At the end of November, a US bankruptcy court finally approved the sale of the Internet music exchange to the American software company Roxio Inc., which specializes in CD-burning software. Roxio also received the technology patents as part of the transaction, but did not assume any Napster liabilities or pending litigation.
In November 2002, the software manufacturer Roxio bought the brand name and the patents of the bankrupt Napster music exchange. In May 2003, the company then acquired the online music service Pressplay in order to start a new legal online music service on this basis. This should allow access to music both through subscriptions and by purchasing individual tracks or music albums.
On October 9, 2003, testing began with the release of a beta version, and on October 29, the service went into regular operation under the name “Napster 2.0”, but initially only in the USA. Great Britain followed on May 20, 2004 and Canada a few days later, on May 26. On August 9, 2004, Roxio announced the sale of its consumer software division, which was its core business until the acquisition of Pressplay. The sale to Sonic Solutions for $ 80 million was completed on December 17, 2004. Roxio then renamed itself Napster, Inc. and from now on focused exclusively on the online music business.
On December 9, 2005, Napster made its service available to customers in Germany. In the fall of 2008, the US electronics retailer Best Buy took over the music service.
Napster does not use a peer-to-peer system today and apart from the name and logo has practically nothing in common with the former Napster music exchange.
In October 2011, Napster was bought by competitor Rhapsody . The acquisition of the European business was completed in January 2013. The service will continue under the Napster brand name in the UK and Germany .
Technical implementation
Provision
The service can be used either web-based or via special Napster software. Apps for Apple iOS, Android and Windows phone-based devices are available for mobile use.
File format / sound quality
Tracks are usually stored offline at 192 kbps AAC. The audio streaming via the software and the web service is generally carried out at 128 kbps MP3, via the apps with a regular 192 kbps AAC.
Napster Germany
Napster has licensing agreements with all major music companies as well as hundreds of independent record labels. According to the company's own information, the offer in Germany comprises more than 18 million music titles and thousands of audio books. Users of the Napster Music flat rate + Mobile can also use the service via mobile Apple iOS, Windows Phone and Android devices as well as multi-room devices from various manufacturers.
Cooperation with Telefónica Germany
Similar to Deutsche Telekom and Spotify, Napster cooperates with Telefónica Deutschland Holding . With the brands of Base , simfinity, simyo , Ay Yildiz and MTV mobile, the music flat rate was initially offered under the name MTV Music powered by Napster . On August 3, 2015, the service was renamed Napster. With these brands, the flat rate is mostly included in the tariffs or can be booked as additional options. The Napster Music Flat rate can be booked as an additional option at O 2 and is free of charge for the first month, after which a reduced fee of 7.99 euros per month applies. Similarly, in cooperation with Aldi Talk, Napster is offered in various data packages as ALDI life music powered by Napster .
Napster USA / UK / Canada
The offers do not differ significantly internationally. However, due to the separate contracts with the rights holders for the music for each country, the selection varies. For licensing reasons, the service can only be used in the country in which it is offered.
Napster fan award
In 2011 the Napster Fanpreis, an Internet audience award, was launched. Napster is supported by the online tabloid magazine Promiflash, the youth magazine voyeur - the young magazine and the company DSA youngstar (German school marketing agency). The award is given to bands and individual artists from German-speaking countries who were able to place a single or album in the top 100 of the German charts over the course of a year. The first winners of the prize, which was awarded for the first time on September 8, 2011 at the Berlin Popkomm , were Haudegen (band) and Sarah Engels (individual artist). The winners in 2012 were Daniele Negroni (individual artist), runner-up in Deutschland sucht den Superstar , and the group Culcha Candela (band). The 2013 winners were Luca Hänni and Santiano . In 2014 Andreas Bourani and The Baseballs won the award and in 2015 Lena Meyer-Landrut and Gestört but GeiL . The Napster Fan Award 2016 went to Jamie-Lee Kriewitz and Jennifer Rostock .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Napster : [1]
- ^ Rhapsody : [2] .
- ↑ [3]
- ↑ Rhapsody acquires Napster International ( Memento from November 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://www.napster.de/quickhelp/
- ↑ http://www.napster.de/start
- ↑ How to get the Musik Flat ( Memento from September 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on May 16, 2015
- ↑ areamobile.de - O2 offers Napster Music Flat at the mobile phone tariff, accessed on May 16, 2015
- ↑ n-tv.de : Aldi Life music started - what good is streaming from the discounter? , accessed on September 16, 2019
- ^ Stiftung Warentest : Aldi Life Musik Napster at a discount price , accessed on September 16, 2019
- ↑ http://mypromi.net/ (link not available)