The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

Napster opens Canadian outpost

Downloads service widens coverage

  • print
  • alert

Regcast training : Hyper-V 3.0, VM high availability and disaster recovery

Napster rolled out its online music service out to Canadian consumers yesterday, announcing an exclusive, "multi-year" tie-in with Molson to provide the brewer with song downloads.

The move was signalled last week when the company launched its UK service - the UK software CDs also show Napster's www.napster.ca URL.

Like the UK launch, the debut of the Canadian service puts Napster ahead of its chief rival, Apple's iTunes Music Store, which currently only serves US customers.

But yesterday's announcement highlights the problems all music download market players face in building an international business. Napster currently offers 500,000 songs to UK consumers, but their Canadian colleagues can choose from only 300,000 songs.

Napster Canada has licences from the big five labels as well as indies.

Like the UK, Canada will be offered a seven-day free trial of Napster's subscription service, which is what the company appears keener to sell that pure-play downloads. Subscribers pay CN$9.95 a month for unlimited downloads and access to the service's ten 'radio' stations. Non-subscribers can download songs for CN$1.19 a go, or in album-length batches for CN$9.95. ®

Related stories

Oxfam enters music download biz
RIAA targets 493 more unnamed file-sharers
Italy approves 'jail for P2P users' law
Napster UK goes live
Rivals 'welcome' Napster to UK
Apple creates separate iPod business unit
OD2 halves music download prices

Requirements Checklist for Choosing a Cloud Backup and Recovery Service Provider

More from The Register

 breaking news
BBC-featured call centre slapped with hefty fine for unwanted calls
PPI pests: Swansea-based firm stung for £225k by ICO
Microsoft to open Windows Stores inside 600 Best Buy locations
Product showcases 'must be seen to be believed'
 breaking news
What did the Lehman Brothers implosion look like to a techie?
Insider tells all about the Gnab Gib at Lehmans
It's official: 'tweet' an English word – not just in the avian sense
If the Oxford English Dictionary says it is so, then it is so
 breaking news
The only Waze is Google: Ad giant tipped to gobble map app 'for $1.3bn'
Pac-Man-satnav-ish upstart in bidding war with Apple, Facebook
 breaking news
1-in-10 e-tomes 'are self-published'... most are 'rubbish' says book ed
Publishing man scoffs at go-it-alone writers, ursines still fouling in forests
 breaking news
Facebook RSS reader said to uncloak June 20
Secret event scooped by Scottish developer?
 breaking news
O2 averts strike action over mass Capita outsourcing deal
Details of new agreement not yet released