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LOS ANGELES 10/16/06 – Digital music service Napster is now available to music lovers across Japan, the largest music market in the world outside of the US.

The launch of Napster Japan marks the introduction of the digital music subscription model to Japanese consumers, who until now have only been able to experience digital music by paying for each track and album individually.

Napster Japan features a music catalog of nearly two million tracks spanning all genres from both major and independent record labels, including a library of local Japanese content and the largest collection of non-Japanese music available in the country.

The service also features a variety of community features, interactive, commercial-free radio stations, Napster playlists, and other tools designed to enhance the digital music experience.

Napster Japan offers Japanese music fans two different ways to subscribe to its new service – its basic subscription tier enables unlimited listening to music from Napster's subscription catalog on up to three PCs for about $11 per month; its β€œTo Go” premium subscription tier enables the same unlimited PC-based listening as the basic service, but also gives subscribers the power to transfer an unlimited amount of music from Napster to their choice of compatible portable devices at a monthly rate of around $17. 

There are currently over 20 portable devices in the Japanese market that are compatible with Napster β€œTo Go,” including MP3 player models from Creative, iRiver, JVC and Toshiba, and NTT DoCoMo's popular F902is mobile handset.

Many more Napster To Go-compatible portable devices from a variety of leading manufacturers are expected to hit the Japanese market in the coming months.

Most notably, NTT DoCoMo, Japan's leading mobile communications company, has confirmed that the vast majority of its future mobile handset models will be compatible with Napster β€œTo Go,” which will enable its 51 million mobile subscribers to easily enjoy their favorite music on the most-advanced hardware available.

In addition to its subscription services, Napster Japan also offers the ability to purchase individual tracks and albums through an a la carte store.

Napster Japan is being supported by an extensive online marketing initiative as well as a campaign designed to increase Japanese music fans' interactions with the service in various offline environments, including transportation hubs and entertainment venues across the country.

Napster is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in New York, London, Frankfurt, and Tokyo.

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