Napster in Japan

Napster, the music download company, has launched a service in Japan. Napster Japan will offer music fans more than 1.5 million Japanese and foreign music downloads.

It follows in the footsteps of rival company Apple, which launched its online music store iTunes in Japan last year. After the United States, Japan represents the world's second largest market for music in the world.

The joint venture with Tower Records Japan will offer individual tracks and albums for an average of 150 to 300 Yen (68p to £1.35) per track. Users can also sign up to a monthly download service which will enable unlimited music to their PCs for 1,280 Yen (£5.76) per month.

But Napster Japan also plans to exploit the growing trend for downloading music to mobile devices. Another subscription priced at 1,980 Yen (£8.91) a month will allow users to download music to the mobile devices of their choice.

Chris Gorog, Napster's chairman and CEO, said: "Napster is very pleased to bring the first music subscription service to Japan's vibrant music and technology market."

"Our joint venture with Tower Records Japan, the nation's largest and most successful music retailer, has enabled us to deliver a product with a deep focus on local tastes and programming that also happens to offer the largest digital music catalogue available in the market."

Adapted from BBC Online, October 2006

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