Napster parent increases revenue forecasts

On track for $5.5m in music service sales

By Tony Smith • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 15th March 2004 13:42 GMT

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Roxio will sell around $5.5m worth of songs through its Napster online music service during its current fiscal quarter, the company said today.

That figure represents a jump of 34.6 per cent over the $3.6m the company recorded for Napster's Q3 revenue. Its fourth quarter comes to an end on 31 March.

Of course, Napster contributed just two months' revenue to Q3's total. Had it sold songs for the full three months, you'd expect sales of $5.4m, all things being equal. In that light, Q4's figure seems rather less impressive than it does at first. That figure yields growth of just 1.8 per cent. In Roxio's favour is the fact that this quarter is shorter than the previous one.

In any case, the company's money comes from its software division, which sold $15.2m worth of products last quarter and is forecast to sell $26m worth this time round. The increase is largely due to the shipment of Easy Media Creator 7 during the quarter, Roxio said.

Last quarter, the company lost $25.6m (92 cents a share), $15.1m of it from the Napster division. The gain in sales may be enough to put the software division into the black - it lost $10.1m last quarter, $4.4m of which was a restructuring charge. ®