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