Napster Increases Subscribers 50% in Third Quarter

Napster Increases Subscribers 50% in Third Quarter LOS ANGELES, Jan. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Napster, Inc. (NASDAQ:NAPS), the biggest brand in digital music, announced today that it experienced very strong subscriber growth during the recent holiday period as paid subscribers increased sequentially by 50% in the quarter ending December 31, 2004. Napster ends calendar 2004 after just over a year of operation with 270,000 paid subscribers, including 44,000 paid subscribers participating in its university programs. "We believe 50% quarter over quarter subscriber growth makes Napster the fastest growing music subscription service in the industry," said Chris Gorog, Napster's chairman and CEO. "These results, combined with industry analysts' projections, continue to support our belief that the future of digital music is subscription services. We expect to continue to drive very substantial subscriber growth in 2005 starting with the upcoming consumer launch and marketing campaign for 'Napster To Go', the world's first portable music subscription service." Napster will announce financial results for its third fiscal quarter following the market close on February 9, 2005. The company will host a conference call for analysts and investors at 2:00 p.m. PT (5:00 p.m. ET). Participating on the call will be Chris Gorog and Chief Financial Officer Nand Gangwani. To participate on the live call, analysts and investors should dial 800-218-8862 at least ten minutes prior to the call. To participate on the live call from outside the U.S., dial 1-303-262-2131. Napster will also offer a live webcast of the conference call, accessible from the "Investor Relations" section of the company's Web site (http://investor.napster.com/). A telephonic replay of the conference call will also be available for 48 hours by dialing 800-405-2236 and enter passcode 11020065#. About Napster Napster, the biggest brand in digital music, is a subscription service that enables fans to freely sample the world's largest and most diverse online collection of music and experience the largest number of features. Napster (www.napster.com) members have access to songs from all major labels and hundreds of independents and have more ways to discover, share and acquire new music and old favorites with community features like the ability to email tracks to friends and browse other members' collections. Napster also offers Napster Light, a "lighter" version of the service for those who just want to purchase songs and albums a la carte. Napster is currently available in the United States, Canada and the U.K. and is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in San Jose, San Diego, New York and London. Safe Harbor Statement Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this press release, in particular matters related to the launch of Napster To Go, Napster's relationship with hardware manufacturers, the growth of Napster's subscriber base and the growth of the digital music distribution industry are forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties such as our failure to obtain new subscribers, the incompatibility of our service with the hardware devices of our current and potential customers, delays in our product development, reliance on the growth of the internet for electronic commerce, intense competition, and general economic conditions, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Additional information on these and other factors are contained in Napster's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q as filed with the SEC on November 9, 2004, copies of which are available at the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov/. Napster assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements included in this press release. NOTE: Napster, NapsterTo Go and Napster Light are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Napster, LLC in the United States and/or other countries. Source: Napster, Inc. CONTACT: press, Dana Harris of Napster, +1-310-281-5073; or investors, Alex Wellins of The Blueshirt Group, +1-415-217-7722, for Napster Web site: http://www.napster.com/ ------- Profile: International Entertainment