"Ahead of a Napster earnings call scheduled for early February, reports of a dire company situation have emerged. According to sources close to the situation, a substantial round of layoffs are now imminent. In comments to Digital Music News, the sources noted that executives at the company are also reportedly considering various exit options, including a fire sale or liquidation. A Napster representative countered the claims, noting that there are 'no imminent plans for significant layoffs,' while denying any intentions to liquidate or sell the company. Meanwhile, Apple has claimed a hefty 83 percent of the market, a dominance that has created a squeeze for Napster and others. The story is expected to develop over the next few weeks..."This is from the register.co.uk:
"Results for Napster's most recently completed quarter, Q3 FY2006, which ended 31 December 2005, are due to be made public early next month. The company's second quarter, ended 30 September 2005, led it to report a net loss of $13.61m (32 cents a share) on revenues of $23.38m," Tony Smith reports"You remember Napster, right? That obnoxious music service that had the balls to congest the airwaves with BS-laden "proof" that subscribing to THEM was a better alternative to iTunes. "Do the math," they exclaimed. Apparently, the executives are "doing the math," as they calculate just how quickly they can liquidate their employees and assets. What a shame.
Don't get me wrong--I'm all for competition when it serves the larger purpose of making a product/service better, but as of now, the iTunes music store is so efficient, competition would be moot. So far, no service has come along that can exceed it's usability, price, catalog and support, and it may be ages until that happens. Until then, the least a competitor can do is NOT mask their shortcomings by throwing a bunch of "new math" at everyone to convince us we're saving money. Columbia House, anyone?
Good luck, Napster. We all liked you better when you were simply a free, illegal downloading network. So much for "going straight."
