Napster quakes as music majors tune-up online offerings

NEWS AOL Time Warner, Bertelsmann and EMI - which between them control around 60 per cent of the world's pop music - will form their own music download site, aimed to sink rival peer-to-peer (P2P) sites such as Napster. Fans will be able to download audio mp3s for an as yet undisclosed monthly fee from MusicNet, a site initially to be offered by AOL and RealNetworks. Until now, the music industry has been slow to exploit the potential of the online market. A Jupiter Media Matrix study released today predicts that the European online music market will rocket in value from E333m (£207m) at the end of last year to over E2bn (£1.24bn) at the end of 2006. One celebrity not attempting to kick Napster when it's down is mercurial popstar Prince. The eccentric musician has teamed up with Napster to promote a track, The Work: Pt 1, from his forthcoming album. Napster will collaborate with Prince's subscription-based fan club, NPG Music. Subscribers to the artist's site pay a monthly fee in return for priority tickets to Prince shows and a regular supply of new songs. The debate over Napster and free digital music distribution will continue in the courtroom today, when the US Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing to discuss the controversial service and its long-running legal battle with the recording industry.