Following confirmation earlier this week of their move into the Canadian market, Roxio have confirmed the British launch of their Napster service will take place this summer, and have announced a deal with retail chain Dixons to promote the platform.
In the partnership deal with the retailer, Dixons will promote the new site by selling Napster-branded blank CDs, CD wallets and CD labelling kits in their stores, as well as pushing their customers through to the service via their website. Napster will be hoping a presence in the electronics stores will give it access to a mainstream audience. Back in the early days of internet service providers Dixons promoted the ISP Freeserve (which it owned at the time) through its shops giving the service huge competitive advantage.
Commenting on the Dixons deal, Napster president Brad Duea told reporters: "They are a dominant player in the consumer electronic retail area. They can provide a total solution for Napster whether a consumer wants to buy a computer to enjoy Napster, a portable device, a portable MP3 player to transfer content or blank CDs."
Napster's confirmation of UK roll out follows an announcement in the US that the company expects to bring in revenues in excess of $40 million in the current financial year, which began in April. Roxio bosses say revenues hit $6.1m for the three months ending 31 Mar, and with continued growth in membership they estimate that figure will rise to an average of $10 million a quarter over the next year.