The launch of a new fee-based site by the Internet music group Napster has been delayed until next year because the major record labels refuse to allow their songs to be licensed, Napster's top executive claimed last night.
|
|
|
Mr Konrad Hilbers, who has been Napster's chief executive for the last three months, said the once wildly popular music site cannot even set a subscription fee until the major record labels agree to terms by which their songs may be used online.
"The biggest hurdle Napster faces is obtaining this content," Mr Hilbers told a digital music conference.
Napster, which as a free music-swapping service saw its members grow quickly to more than 60 million worldwide by the beginning of 2001, has been shut down since March as a result of a court order to keep copyrighted songs off its site.
The company had planned to relaunch the site as a paid service later this year, but that depends on getting permission from the major music labels to distribute copyrighted songs online.
Critics of the record labels have called for an antitrust investigation, saying the companies are colluding to thwart competition in Internet music distribution while they launch their own music websites.
AFP