Napster Inc. said Friday that it will become the exclusive music subscription provider for America Online’s music unit, and that it has hired an investment firm to explore a possible sale of the company.

Napster will replace AOL’s existing Music Now service, which currently has more than 350,000 subscribers. The addition should bring the Los Angeles-based Internet music provider close to 1 million subscribers. It reported close to 600,000 as of the end of 2006.

Napster also said that it will maintain AOL’s pricing, account credits and previously saved play lists.

The company added Friday that it is working with Swiss investment bank UBS AG to explore a possible sale of the company. Napster released preliminary third quarter revenue forecasts last week of $28 million, which would mark the company’s best sales performance since 2004.

Shares in Napster were up 22 cents to $4.04 in midday trading Friday.