Thursday, July 7, 2005

Dell, Napster Partner On Music Download Service

Los Angeles-based music download service Napster and personal computer manufacturer Dell are partnering on a legal music download service, aimed at attracting students away from illegal peer to peer file swapping services. The new bundled offering targets universities with a bundled version of Napster's digital music service with Dell's PowerEdge 1855 blade servers. The solution loads the Napster digital music library onto local servers, reducing the network impact of students accessing the digital music library. The deal calls for the two companies to work together on sales and marketing efforts, with Dell offering subscriptions to the Napster digital music service at the Dell discounted academic rate and offers for discounted digital music players bundled with the Napster service. The companies said that the University of Washington will be the first school to tap into the solution, starting this fall.

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