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Napster launches in Japan
Subscription service's joint venture with Tower Records Japan debuts with two monthly plans and a la carte downloads.
While its corporate namesakes face uncertain futures, Napster Japan launched today, hoping to lure the nation's massive music-buying audience to its subscription and download service.
Now and yen.
Napster Japan is a joint venture between Napster and Tower Records Japan, with Napster owning 31.5 percent and Tower, which is independent from Tower Records, owning 53.5 percent.
Napster offers Japanese customers both unlimited monthly rentals for a fee and individual downloads, hoping to take on Apple's iTunes in one of the world's largest music markets. iTunes launched in Japan last year.
"Napster is very pleased to bring the first music subscription service to Japan's vibrant music and technology market," Napster CEO Chris Gorog said in a statement. "Our joint venture with Tower Records Japan, the nation's largest and most successful music retailer, has enabled us to deliver a product with a deep focus on local tastes and programming that also happens to offer the largest digital music catalog available in the market."
Napster Japan offers users access to its catalog of 1.9 million songs through three payment options. For 1,280 yen ($10.88) a month, users get unlimited rental access to Napster's entire catalog. For 1,980 yen ($16.80) a month, users also get the ability to transfer rented music to compatible portable devices made by companies like Creative and iRiver.
Napster Japan also offers an "a la carte" option at 150 yen ($1.27) per Western song and 200 yen ($1.70) per Japanese song. Japanese artists make up only 10 percent of Napster's catalog.
The challenge facing Napster, as well as its digital music rivals, is luring Japanese music fans who are more accustomed to downloading music straight to their cell phones than in most markets. Napster is banking on its relationship with mobile giant NTT Docomo, which has agreed to include Napster on all of its future cell-phone models. Docomo has a 42 percent stake in Tower Records Japan, which became independent from Tower Records last year in a buyout. Tower Records will promote the new service in its more than 100 outlets across Japan.
The launch comes at a time when both Napster and Tower Records face uncertain futures. Napster said last month that it has hired an investment bank to explore strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company, while financially troubled Tower Records will hit the auction block on Thursday.
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