Napster Turns it Up With XM Satellite Radio

Napster and XM Satellite Radio have joined forces under a strategic partnership to integrate Napster’s online music services and XM’s satellite radio service.

The two companies are launching an online service called “XM + Napster”, which will provide a single interface for accessing, purchasing, and managing music from XM and Napster.

The service will be exclusively for subscribers of XM Satellite Radio, which has over 4.4 million subscribers. The service will be launched in the fourth quarter of this year, around the same time XM releases its new MP3 players.
“The combination of the ‘XM + Napster’ service with new XM/MP3 players will provide XM subscribers with the ultimate 360-degree music experience,” said XM president and CEO Hugh Panero.

XM subscribers will be able to listen to XM’s live programming, store songs that they want, and mark them for future reference or online purchase.

“Today, XM subscribers can effortlessly discover and listen to any kind of music, and soon they will be able to effortlessly access, purchase, and manage their music with ‘XM + Napster’ and the new XM/MP3 players,” added Panero. According to a press release,

When the XM/MP3 player is connected to a PC, the “XM + Napster” service will match the marked XM song titles with Napster’s massive music catalog; available songs can be purchased individually for on-demand listening and transferred to the player for a completely portable experience. The “XM + Napster” service will also enable XM subscribers to manage their entire digital music collection in one location, giving them the freedom to create playlists that contain music from a variety of sources.

In addition, the “XM + Napster” service will allow XM subscribers who listen to XM Radio Online, the Internet radio service that offers more than 70 XM music channels, to listen to music they hear on XM and purchase music for transfer to a variety of compatible MP3 players.

“Napster is excited to work with XM to create a cutting-edge product that merges the best of online and satellite music into one great, integrated experience,” said Napster’s chairman and CEO Chris Gorog. “‘XM + Napster’ will be nirvana for passionate music fans.”

XM subscribers will be able to pay a monthly fee to get unlimited songs on Napster if they choose. Otherwise, they can just pay for individual songs as they want them.

Chris is a staff writer for murdok. Visit murdok for the latest ebusiness news.