Napster usage quadruples in Feb-July

NEW YORK: Media Metrix Inc. said on Monday that Napster Inc.'s song-swap

application quadrupled to nearly 5 million unique users from February to July

and is the fastest growing application it has ever tracked on the Web.

Media Metrix, a pioneer in Internet and digital media measurement, said US

home users climbed from 1.1 million unique users at home in February 2000, the

first month it tracked the Napster application, to 4.9 million unique users in

July, a 345 per cent increase.

Napster often says it has attracted more than 20 million users, but Media

Matrix is tracking usage by unique users or the number of total users who used

the software application once in the given month. All unique users are

unduplicated, or only counted once.

The Napster application, which enables users to participate in the

controversial music file-sharing service, now ranks as the 43rd most popular

home application, representing more than 6 per cent of all US home PC users with

a modem, it said.

While the popularity of Napster soared among users at home, the application

also grew significantly in the workplace.

Napster more than doubled from 417,000 unique users in May 2000, the first

month Napster had reportable traffic at work, to nearly 887,000 US users in

July, Media Metrix said.

"The key to Napster's success is that its users represent the full

spectrum of PC users, not just the youth with time on their hands and a passion

for music," said New Media Group, Media Metrix’s New Media Group Senior

Vice President Bruce Ryon.

"While Napster has not yet gained widespread popularity similar to other

music-related applications such as multimedia players, it is proving to be a

seminal application capable of rapid growth and influence on the sharing and

distribution of music files," he said.

(C) Reuters Limited 2000.