(CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Napster, once synonymous with the illegal downloading of music, began the new year by becoming a publicly traded company. Trading under its new ticker "NAPS," Napster opened the Nasdaq Exchange in Times Square on January 2.
"Napster created the first on-line music service, the first combination subscription and download service and the first portable subscription service,” said Chris Gorog, chairman and CEO. “We are proud today to continue Napster's tradition of innovation by becoming the first pure-play public digital music company in the nation. With analysts projecting multi-billion dollar sales for this sector, we are very confident in Napster's strategic position and are very excited about our future."
Napster completed the successful sale of its Roxio consumer software division to Sonic Solutions on December 17, 2004. With the cash and stock proceeds of that sale, Napster closed the calendar year with a net balance of cash and investments, including its shares in Sonic Solutions, of more than $130 million.
Napster is currently available in the United States, Canada and the U.K. and is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in San Jose, San Diego, New York and London. — Jane Cohen and Bob Grossweiner
