AT&T, Napster Announce Mobile Download Service

Beginning in mid-November, Napster's music catalog of more than five million tracks will be available for download for AT&T wireless subscribers. The downloads will cost $1.99/song or $7.49 for five songs per month. AT&T has not said which devices will be able to use the Napster service, but it is clear the iPhone will not. Verizon also charges $1.99/song, but Sprint only charges $0.99 and iTunes track downloads via Wi-Fi on the iPhone also cost $0.99. AT&T and Napster entered a deal this March providing one-year of free access to Napster's mobile download service for wireless subscribers using specific calling plans and other AT&T services. The forthcoming deal will allow subscribers to download tracks directly to their phone and receive an automatic email link to download the same track free of charge to their PC. AT&T Consumer Data Services chief Mark Collins said mobile downloads will take 15 to 30 seconds depending on signal strength. AT&T also announced two new services, MobiVJ, a music video streaming channel service and VIP Access, which provides artist biographies and discographies. Shares of AT&T lost 1% to $41.37 on Friday, while Napster fell 1.6% to $3.16.

Sources: Press release, Associated Press, Dow Jones, Reuters
Commentary: AT&T Signs Napster Mobile Deal • Napster Relaunches with Web-Based Platform • AT&T Makes Calling Plan Policies More “Customer Friendly”
Stocks to watch: T, NAPS, AAPL, VZ, S

Seeking Alpha's news briefs are combined into a pre-market summary called Wall Street Breakfast. Get Wall Street Breakfast by email -- it's free and takes only seconds to sign up.

Comments

[Tom B:]

I own some T. I want T to succeed and grow. Somebody please explain to T whom they work for now.

Two questions for T: 1) Do you LIKE losing money on a doomed download service that is more expensive and less useful than iTunes? 2) Given that you have an exclusive on the hottest handset on the planet, why is it that your ads still show godawful pre-iPhone junk? I understand that you might be wanting to clear out inventory, but I'm hoping you guys start to "get a clue" before Black Friday.

2007 Oct 22 02:52 PM