New Napster wakes up

LOS ANGELES -- Nearly a year after the Napster brand was rescued from the ashes of the ruined file-swapping service, a revamped online music store bearing the familiar name debuted Thursday in limited release.

A test version of Napster 2.0 launched with more than a half-million songs from all the major music labels and with individual song and album downloads as well as a subscription service.

It will be available to the general public Oct. 29, officials said.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Roxio Inc., which owns the Napster name, shelved its former online music service, pressplay, and starting moving subscribers to Napster.

Pressplay, which went off-line Tuesday, offered access to songs only for a monthly fee.

Napster 2.0 users will see prices in line with what other services charge, which is about $1 per song and about $10 for full albums or monthly subscription.

The service allows users to copy, or "burn," single songs onto CDs an unlimited number of times, but, like other services, users can't burn more than five CDs with the same playlist.

"Our company's passion for what we're doing will really be felt by consumers and I think it's also very consistent with the original vision for Napster," said Chris Gorog, Roxio's chairman and chief executive.

The music industry has seen CD sales plummet over the last three years as illegal music file-sharing exploded, beginning with the original Napster.