Napster Shares up on AT & T; Deal

0

Shares in Napster Inc. closed up nearly 11 percent Monday after the online music retailer announced that it would provide some AT & T; Inc. customers with a year’s worth of free, unlimited access to its Napster To Go mobile music service.


The service will let users access Napster’s database of over 3 million songs on their computers, phones and MP3 players and will be offered to existing AT & T; broadband Internet subscribers who add wireless phone service. AT & T;’s wireless unit, formerly known as Cingular, is the nation’s largest cell carrier with more than 60 million subscribers, and should provide a subscriber bump to Napster, the company’s Chief Executive Chris Gorog said.


San Antonio-based AT & T; will support the Napster promotional offer with a marketing campaign, the company said.


The move by Los Angeles-based Napster comes amid speculation that the company may be up for sale. The company also announced earlier this year that is was taking over AOL’s Music Now service, more than doubling its subscriber base at the time to about 600,000, the company said.


Shares in Napster closed up 40 cents, or 10 percent, to $4.22 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.

No posts to display