|
Napster's plans for the record industry
|
View this Thread in Original format
| TeKnoHe@d2025 |
Have any of u heard of what deal Napster has laid on the table for the record industry? Here's an article from ZDnet:By John Borland, Special to ZDNet
In a bid to prevent a possible court-ordered shutdown, Napster executives on Tuesday offered record companies $1 billion over five years for the right to allow copyrighted music to be traded on the popular file-swapping network.
In a press conference in San Francisco, executives from Napster and Bertelsmann appealed to other record company executives for a temporary stay of legal hostilities that threaten Napster's existence, saying pressing on would ultimately harm everybody's interests.
"What we're saying is this community ought to be allowed to stay together," said Napster interim CEO Hank Barry. "We all ought to sit down and settle this thing."
Barry and Bertelsmann's head of e-commerce, Andreas Schmidt, said they had contacted the other four major record labels Tuesday with word of the $1 billion offer. Previous offers based on a percentage of Napster revenue had been rejected, Barry said.
Specifically, Napster is offering $150 million per year to the five major record companies and $50 million annually to be shared by independent labels.
The company, which plans to change its free service into a tiered subscription model as early as July, said it would create a yearly guaranteed $150 million fund for major labels and another $50 million annually for independent labels. The labels would be responsible for distributing the funds to artists and songwriters.
The annual payment of $200 million would come out of projected subscription fees and other potential sources of revenue. The company gave a few new details on just what those fees would look like. A service allowing limited numbers of downloads per month would likely cost between $2.95 and $4.95 per month, while an unlimited download service would likely cost $5.95 to $9.95, Barry said.
Today's free, unlimited service will go away after an "orderly" transition, Barry added.
The offer did not include any money that might have to be paid for damages as a result of past file swapping through Napster's service. But Bertelsmann and Napster executives said the offer should serve as a token of good faith to bring the other labels back to the negotiating table, and to allow a temporary legal truce that would keep Napster operating.
However, in a statement released shortly before Tuesday's press conference, Hilary Rosen, chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America, dismissed Napster's latest negotiating efforts. The company needs to stop trading copyrighted works now, she said.
"To the management of Napster I say again: You claim you want to be legitimate and negotiate licenses based on real business models," Rosen said. "I urge you to act accordingly. Stop the infringements, stop the delay tactics in court, and redouble your efforts to build a legitimate system."
That's just part of it, if u want the whole story goto: http://msn.zdnet.com/msn/zdnet/stor...025ab%2C00.html
|
|
|
| breakdown |
| hehe it don't really matter, there will always be other sources of mp3s forever |
|
|
|
|
