napster

eMusic CEO leaves for venture capital firm

David Pakman, CEO of eMusic, is leaving the online music service at the end of the year, he said in an interview with CNET News on Monday.

Pakman said he is departing after five years at eMusic to become a partner at a venture capital firm. He declined to specify which firm.

An important part of Pakman's legacy at eMusic is that the company continues to exist. How many CEOs of digital music stores have been around for five years or longer? I can think of only one: Apple's Steve Jobs.

Pakman has watched stores from MTV, Microsoft, … Read more

If Best Buy walks, Real's Rhapsody will hurt

Best Buy's acquisition of Napster is likely to mean RealNetwork's Rhapsody music service will wave goodbye to more than just one of its biggest partners.

Rhapsody of course powered Best Buy's digital music store. Two music insiders told me on Thursday, while I was reporting a story about whether Apple is wise to get into music subscriptions, that the Napster acquisition will almost certainly mean Best Buy will sever it's relationship with Rhapsody. This means that RealNetwork's CEO Rob Glaser would no longer have the muscle behind him to demand electronics companies make their players … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 809: Best Buy, Napster. What, now?

Don Reisinger joins the cast today for a rousing discussion that goes something like this: "Best Buy bought Napster." "Really?" "Yeah, I know, right? Weird." "Huh. Yeah. Wonder why they did that." "Dunno." It's a great show. You'll love it. (No, seriously! Don rants more than I do!)

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 809

Best Buy nabs Napster for $121 million http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10041431-93.html http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080915-best-buy-eyes-apple-microsoft-with-napster-purchase.html

In-flight Internet: Web sites, but not phone calls http://blogs.zdnet.com/gadgetreviews/?p=353… Read more

The 404 184: Where New Jersey isn't as bad as we thought

Be careful what you wish for--after asking listeners to drunk dial us over the weekend, we get a ton of calls from a very inebriated public. On today's show, we finally announce the winner of our Tiger Woods PGA Tour '09 contest! We also teach you how to recover a lost cellphone (or at least torture the thief), lament the new Iron Man 2 villain, and argue over who discovered Napster first.

My favorite story of the day is about getting mad AND getting even. A cell phone is becoming increasingly private. We use them to store personal photos, text message conversations, and voicemails; so how much does it suck to lose your phone? It's even worse when you know that someone is using your precious minutes to call their doofus friends out of country. Well, now you can get even. Maverick Mobile just released an application for your phone that lets you track and spy on the guy that's using your phone. You can listen in on their conversations and even send a piercing alarm to the phone that rings every time they try to invade your cell. Would-be phone thieves beware: we're watching you!

EPISODE 184 Download today's podcast … Read more

Best Buy nabs Napster for $121 million

Electronics retailer Best Buy is acquiring the Napster music service--its entree into the hot online-music sector.

The two companies on Monday announced a merger deal in which Best Buy is to launch an all-cash tender offer for outstanding Napster shares at $2.65 apiece, with the full acquisition valued at $121 million. That total value represents $54 million net of approximately $67 million in cash and short-term investments in Napster as of June 30.

In Napster, retail heavyweight Best Buy is getting itself a one-time contender in the field of online entertainment. A decade ago, Napster was virtually synonymous with … Read more

New Lenovo PCs cue up free Napster service

Buyers of most new Lenovo laptops and desktops will get to relive the good old days of free music via Napster--for a couple of weeks, at least.

The PC maker and the once notoriously embattled digital-music pioneer announced Friday that Lenovo customers will get a free, 14-day trial subscription to Napster To Go. The service lets users listen to songs on their PC and transfer an unlimited number of music tracks to any compatible MP3 player or music-enabled cell phone without paying per track.

The beleaguered online-music company is clearly looking for ways to attract new subscribers. After a high-profile … Read more

CNET News Daily Podcast: You only need 250GB of downloads a month, says Comcast

Do you download more than 250GB of data per month? If you're a Comcast customer, you'll likely want to get out of the habit--quickly. Beginning October 1, the Internet provider said customers that use more than 250GB per month, per account will get their account disabled. It's got a lot of people in an uproar. Make sure to check out Webware.com's coverage of the news.

Also on Friday's podcast: Apple and AT&T could be looking at a plan to allow tethering of the iPhone, Nintendo Wii sales continue to propel the company … Read more

Napster won't rule out a sale

Beleaguered online-music pioneer Napster announced to shareholders in a letter Friday that it's still employing investment bank UBS and may be positioning itself for "strategic alternatives" to keeping the company public--i.e. a sale.

The letter was sent on behalf of Napster's board in order to urge shareholders to not vote for three activist candidates for the board. "The press release recently filed by the dissident group appears to imply that your board is not willing to consider a sale of the company," the letter read. "This is not true."

The board … Read more

Rumored iTunes subscription would be a bargain

Repeat after me: it's just a rumor. Record company sources deny it. But if the anonymous tipster who e-mailed Mac Daily News is telling the truth, and Apple is indeed going to offer an all-you-can-download iTunes subscription service for for $129.99 a year (or $179.99 a year with Mobile Me), other subscription services will have a hard time surviving.

Let's review for a moment, shall we?

eMusic. Cost? The cheapest plan $143.88 per year, but only for 30 downloads per month. No unlimited plan available. Works with the iPod? Yes, because the downloads are non-DRM-protected … Read more