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NAPSTER SETS GERMANY AS NEXT TERRITORY
IN ROLL-OUT OF BIGGEST BRAND IN DIGITAL MUSIC
Thorsten Schliesche appointed as general manager and vice-president of Napster Germany after heading up Germany’s market leading online music service Musicload CANNES - (January 24, 2005) - Napster Inc. (NASDAQ: NAPS), has appointed Thorsten Schliesche as general manager and vice-president of Napster Germany in preparation for the roll out later this year of the biggest brand in digital music in Europe’s second largest music market. Based in Frankfurt, Schliesche reports directly to Napster senior vice-president of worldwide business development Larry Linietsky in Los Angeles. As part of his mission to launch a locally-staffed Napster operation in Germany in 2005, Schliesche’s specific strategic responsibilities include: market research; oversight of communications and branding; identification and targeting of local distribution channels to drive subscribers for the Napster service across both new and existing platforms; and extension of global platform partnerships. The announcement was made today during the 39th annual MIDEM international music market in Cannes which is this year sponsored by Napster. Delegates from the company include both Schliesche and Linietsky, along with president Brad Duea, UK GM Leanne Sharman, senior director business & legal affairs Avery Kotler, and UK programming director Jeff Smith, who are looking to secure new content and explore and develop marketing partnerships with interested parties. "This is a very exciting time in the evolution of the biggest brand in digital music and the perfect moment for us to look at extending Napster to new global markets," said Chris Gorog, Napster chairman & CEO, in Cannes. "Our US, UK and Canada operations are enjoying significant growth in their territories - and have gained market share over the recent holiday period. Subscription is the music business model of the future and we’re extremely excited at the prospect of launching Napster in Germany under the guidance of Thorsten Schliesche who already has proven success heading up Germany’s most popular online music service." Thorsten Schliesche joins Napster from T-Online, one of Europe’s largest ISPs. As senior manager for digital shops & music he was responsible for running Musicload for two years and establishing the division as Germany’s market leading online music service. Before that he worked in business development for T-Online where he specialised in eCommerce and payment. Schliesche joined T-Online from US telecommunications provider Viatel where, as European research manager, he set up and ran the company’s market research and market intelligence unit. He has a degree in Chemistry from FH Fresenius University in Wiesbaden and lives in Frankfurt. Napster’s drive into Continental Europe follows a 50% growth in subscribers to the online music service in the last quarter - taking Napster’s total number of subscribers to 270,000 in just over a year of operation. Later this quarter Napster will launch its portable subscription service Napster To Go - offering subscribers the chance to listen to their choice of over 1 million tracks on any compatible MP3 player, all for a low monthly fee - with no cost per song. Napster will announce financial results for its third fiscal quarter following the market close on February 9, 2005. 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 favourites 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 the Napster service in Germany, the launch of Napster To Go, and the growth of Napster's subscriber base are forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties such as our failure to obtain or maintain content licenses, international regulations, failure to obtain new subscribers, 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. Copyright © 2005 Napster, LLC All rights reserved. Napster, the Napster logo, Napster To Go, and Napster Light are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Napster, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks used are owned by their respective owners. Napster media enquiries: Adam Howorth Communications Director adam.howorth@napster.co.uk Napster label & content enquiries: Avery Kotler Senior Director Business & Legal Affairs Tel: +00 1 917 8550589 avery.kotler@napster.com Jeff Smith Programming Director Tel: +44 (0) 7720 882474 jeff.smith@napster.co.uk
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