Napster vs. iTunes (Napster Responds)

In response to Apple's claim of selling 5 times as many songs as Napster in it's first week of operation, Napster's CEO, Chris Gorog, responded in an TechNewsWorld article.

Gorog expresses doubts over the statistics that Apple cited, and anticipates future growth for Napster:

"We expect as soon as we get the word out to consumers that Napster is back, it will significantly impact our growth," Gorog said in an exclusive interview with TechNewsWorld. "We would also expect to be taking away market share from Apple on a weekly basis."

Beyond an advertising campaign, Napster is also partnering with Penn State to provide their students unlimited access to Napster's catalog of songs through their subscription service. Not all students are happy about this deal, and some feel that the money could be better spent. Still, this could represent a significant amount of mindshare if replicated at other colleges.

Apple claims they currently hold 80% marketshare of all legal music downloads and have some substantial marketing campaigns on the horizon (Pepsi, McDonalds?). Steve Jobs also made claims yesterday that the online music download business is not profitable by itself, and that MusicMatch and Napster have "started money losing businesses".