Napster continues quest for legitimacy with fee-based system

Thomas Middelhoff, CEO of Bertelsmann, announced the news at the Davos World Economic Forum on Monday, while sharing a stage with chiefs from rival music companies Sony and Vivendi.

He said Napster was aiming to introduce a subscription model with a working digital rights management system. On the same day, Hank Barry, CEO of Napster, reaffirmed his own commitment to starting a subscription service.

Bertelsmann shocked the music industry last year by linking up with the controversial file-sharing service, which allows users to download music over the internet for free.

Napster is currently embroiled in an ongoing law suit against the Recording Industry
Association of America - which represents all the major labels - and claims Napster breaches artists' copyright.

Reuters reports that Andreas Schmidt, Bertelsmann's ecommerce CEO, later backed up Middelhoff's claims by saying other major music firms were ready to join the Bertelsmann-Napster partnership.

Both Napster and Bertelsmann declined to discuss what the price might be for a potential service. In August last year, Napster's Barry suggested a subscription fee of $5 a month could be acceptable.