Napster Offers $1 Billion Settlement; Payment Would End Record Labels' Suit FINAL Edition

Under Napster's proposal, the five major label groups would divide an annual kitty of $150 million, with independent labels and unsigned artists dividing an additional $50 million a year. The deal would be the largest ever for music licenses, Napster officials said. Industry and legal experts q...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Washington post
Main Author Jon Healey and P.J. Huffstutter
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington, D.C WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post 21.02.2001
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SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 20
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Summary:Under Napster's proposal, the five major label groups would divide an annual kitty of $150 million, with independent labels and unsigned artists dividing an additional $50 million a year. The deal would be the largest ever for music licenses, Napster officials said. Industry and legal experts questioned how Napster could raise the promised $200 million a year, given that few of its current members are expected to sign up for the new, subscription-based version. Napster's own business model assumes that more than 98 percent of the 64 million registered users will abandon the service in the face of the new fees, which are tentatively set at $3 to $10 per month. The higher fees would offer unlimited access to online music files; lower fees would come with downloading restrictions.
ISSN:0190-8286