Napster Turns to Advertising

Jefferson Graham reporting for USA Today:

All the songs on Napster are free again.

In a bid to gain traction against Apple’s dominant iTunes online music store, Napster over the weekend shifted to an advertising-supported model. Visitors can listen to any of the 2 million tunes in its catalog without having to fork over a credit card or download the Napster software application.

But there is a catch. You can only listen to a song five times. After that, you have to either buy it for 99 cents or sign up for a monthly subscription.

(Via Larry Angell.)

★ Tuesday, 2 May 2006