"Napster 2.0 will actually be out before Christmas this year. And we're actually very, very excited about bringing back the original promise of Napster to consumers in a legal version that will give them an unbelievable array of choices to work with online music." Legal version meaning money involved... people are paying for the music... which is very different from the experience before. So why are you confident that this is going to make money? "Well you know paying for music and respecting artists' rights we think is something that most people are very comfortable in doing. And in fact, in our research, half of online users indicate that they're willing to pay for a new Napster service."
It will have name recognition going for it... .but will face plenty of competition. Apple plans to create a Windows version of its iTunes Music Store... MusicMatch has announced it will begin selling individual song downloads... and BuyMusic.com has launched with a big advertising push. The recording industry has begun a crackdown on rampant free music swapping... hoping to convince people... especially young people... that contrary to what they may have gotten used to... music is not free. Bloomberg Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin.