NAPSTER'S FUTURE TIED TO RECORD INDUSTRY ONCE A MAVERICK
In July 2001 Napster named a new CEO, Konrad Hilbers, an executive with Bertelsmann AG. Hilbers replaced Hank Barry, who was Napster's interim CEO since May 2000. Hilbers was formerly executive vice president and chief administrative officer at BMG Entertainment. He also had experience managing the AOL, Netscape, and Compuserve brands in Europe from 1996 to 2000.
Hilbers' immediate challenge was to rebuild Napster as a fee-based service. A report from Jupiter Media Metrix found that worldwide use of Napster fell 65 percent between February 2001 and June 2001, in terms of number of minutes online. Napster's significant brand recognition made it likely that once the company developed its fee-based service, it would recapture many of its lost users. In August Hilbers said the song swap service would cost about $5 a month when it was ready to go live. Recording industry attorneys requested an October 1 hearing for a final judgment from U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel. Meanwhile, Napster's future hung in the balance.
FURTHER READING:
Centeno, Cerelle. "Napster Clinches MusicNet Deal Amid Label Discord." eMarketer, June 23, 2001. Available from www.emarketer.com.
——. "Worldwide Napstered PCs." eMarketer, May 4, 2001. Available from www.emarketer.com.
Eliscu, Jenny. "Is Napster Signing Off for Good?" Rolling Stone, March 29, 2001.
Enos, Lori. "Napster UK Deal Advances Paid Online Music." E-Commerce Times, June 26, 2001. Available from www.ecommercetimes.com.
Evangelista, Benny. "Record Group Calls Napster Filter Archaic." E-Commerce Times, March 28, 2001. Available from www.ecommercetimes.com.
Markoff, John. "Record Companies Seek Fees for Net Music." The New York Times, April 3, 2001.
"A New Hope for Napster, but the Recording Industry Empire Strikes Back." eMarketer Weekly Newsletter, August 22, 2001.
Quinn, Andrew. "Napster Settles Metallica Suit, Vows to Fight On." Reuters, July 12, 2001.
Regan, Keith. "Napster Unveils E-Commerce Link." E-Commerce Times, January 12, 2001. Available from www.ecommercetimes.com
Saliba, Clare. "Napster, Bertelsmann to Develop Paid Service." E-Commerce Times, November 1, 2000. Available from www.ecommercetimes.com
"Shawn Fanning." Biography Today: Scientists & Inventors Series, Volume 3. Detroit: Omnigraphics, 2001.
Stern, Christopher. "With Napster, Industry Hears Future." The Washington Post, March 2, 2001.
SEE ALSO: Intellectual Property; Legal Issues; Peer-to-Peer Technology
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