NAPSTER AND NTL SIGN MAJOR BROADBAND PARTNERSHIP
New Napster online music service to be bundled with unique ntl Broadband Plus content package
and also offered as standalone product to ntl's 1 million-plus broadband customer base
LONDON - (June 14, 2004)
Napster UK, Ltd., a subsidiary of Roxio, Inc. (Nasdaq: ROXI),
has announced a major broadband marketing partnership with ntl Incorporated, the UK's largest
provider of broadband services. Under the terms of the agreement, ntl will bundle the Napster ®
subscription service with its Broadband Plus package - giving its 1 million-plus broadband customers
access to the world's largest online music catalogue. ntl customers can also access the world's
biggest brand in online music via a web link from www.ntlworld.com. Both offers, which are available
from July, include a special introductory 30-day free trial of the Napster subscription service and
start with a pre-awareness email campaign. Napster has now sold in excess of 10 million downloads
across its US, UK and Canadian services.
Launched in the UK on May 20, Napster offers access to over three quarters of a million tracks and a
huge range of value-added community features at a cost to subscribers of £9.95 a month. Alongside the
subscription service, Napster Light offers music fans an a la carte download store. Broadband Plus
from ntl costs £3.99 a month excluding the Napster service, or £9.95 per month with Napster.
"This is a significant deal for Napster because we are partnering with the biggest provider of
broadband services in the UK, and ntl's own research has shown that over 75% of broadband customers
download music each month," said Brad Duea, president of Napster. "We are impressed with ntl's track
record for driving growth in the UK broadband market and are confident our partnership will further
encourage increasing numbers of UK music fans to enjoy the freedom of high speed internet access."
"We are very proud of this exclusive agreement," said Aizad Hussain, managing director of ntl's home
business. "Our customers will have easy access to this high quality music service at an outstanding
price. This supports our ongoing drive for new subscriptions and adds significant value to our broadband
services."
Notes to editors
ntl Broadband
On May 5, 2004 ntl announced that the number of broadband customers increased by approximately 81,000
to 1,028,800 in the first quarter, maintaining ntl's position as the largest broadband ISP in the UK.
In April 2004, ntl announced that it will increase the speed of its broadband services at no extra
cost to customers. The entry level 150Kbps service will be increased to 300Kbps, over five times faster
than dial-up internet for only £2 to £3 more than competitors' dial-up internet prices. The mid tier
600Kbps will be increased to 750Kbps and the high end 1Mb service will be become 1.5Mb.
ntl Broadband Plus
On November 28, 2003 ntl announced the launch of Broadband Plus, a premium broadband content bundle
which provides customers with easy access to a wide range of web-based content. The service is
available for £3.99 per month, instead of about £34 per month, which is what it would cost if customers
were to subscribe to all fifteen services individually.
Broadband Plus, which focuses on music, gaming and education content, brings together 15 brands
including Tweenies (provided by BBC Worldwide), Big Brother, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Freeloader,
Music Choice, Time Tunnel, VidZone and Sonic Selector from OD2 for the first time. The new service
also features Espresso Education, a curriculum-based educational resource for primary school children,
which includes video clips, interactive multimedia activities, and a special "Parents' Guide" to the
national curriculum.
More on ntl Inc.
- ntl Incorporated (NASDAQ: NTLI) offers a wide range of communications services to
residential and business customers throughout the UK and Ireland.
- ntl is the UK's largest cable company and leading broadband supplier with over one
million broadband customers and 2.9 million residential customers.
- ntl's fibre-optic broadband network passes 8.4 million homes in the UK including London,
Manchester, Nottingham, Oxford, Cambridge, Cardiff, Glasgow and Belfast.
Napster 2.0
After downloading the free Napster jukebox at
www.napster.co.uk, Napster subscribers can listen to
the world's largest digital music catalogue on demand, and download any track they choose onto the
hard drives of up to three PCs and listen offline - to save bandwidth while they surf, or for
convenience when on the go. Ten interactive advert-free Napster radio stations allow listeners to
see which song is coming next, skip forward or jump back - with favourites easily added to their
Napster library with one click. Napster can even build subscribers their own custom radio station
on the fly simply on the basis of selecting three songs. Napster's rich community features allow
subscribers to browse each others' play lists and even share songs among other Napster users.
Subscribers can also listen to and save full-length songs taken from the past 10 years of Official
Charts Company UK charts, and can purchase and burn tracks for as little as £0.88 per song when
they buy multiple tracks.
If UK music fans elect not to become a subscriber, by downloading Napster for free at
www.napster.co.uk,
they can still purchase tracks any time they want for £1.09 and albums for £9.95 after listening to
free 30-second samples of the Napster UK library. At no cost, Napster Light users can organise their
entire music collection in Napster by using the ripping software in the Napster jukebox to take tracks
from CDs they already own to play on Napster, import MP3s into their Napster Library, or transfer tracks
they've bought to a wide range of portable devices. Napster Light also offers consumers free access to
Fuzz, Napster's online magazine; their own Napster Inbox; and the chance to sample the OCC UK charts.
About Napster Napster® is the world's most recognized brand in online music. Napster has content
agreements with the five major record labels, as well as hundreds of independents. Napster delivers
access to the largest catalogue of online music with over 750,000 tracks spanning all genres and
artists from Eminem to Miles Davis. Napster is a division of Roxio, Inc., (Nasdaq: ROXI), the Digital
Media Company, provider of the best-selling digital media software in the world. Napster is
headquartered in Los Angeles with additional offices in London, New York, San Diego and Toronto.
Napster contact:
Adam Howorth
Communications Director
Tel: +44 (0) 207 1017281
adam.howorth@napster.co.uk
ntl contact:
Malcolm Padley
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7 7464094
Tel: +44 (0) 7788 978199
Malcolm.padley@ntl.com
Safe Harbor Statement
Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this press release, in particular
matters related to the Napster's relationship with ntl are forward-looking statements that are
subject to certain risks and uncertainties such as decreased demand for our products; flaws
inherent in our products or services; intense competition; and failure to maintain our
relationship with ntl that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected.
Additional information on these and other factors are contained in Roxio's reports filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K
as filed with the SEC on June 14, 2004, copies of which are available at the website maintained
by the SEC at
http://www.sec.gov. Roxio assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking
statements included in this press release.
Copyright © 2004 Roxio, Inc. All rights reserved. Roxio, the Roxio tagline, and Napster
are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Roxio, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United
States and/or other countries. All other trademarks used are owned by their respective owners.
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