Napster Lays Off 15%; No More Cuts Foreseen
Napster Inc., the beleaguered online song-sharing company, laid off 15% of its work force to “strengthen resources” for its long-delayed subscription service, Chief Executive Konrad Hilbers said.
The Redwood City, Calif.-based firm also disclosed that it won’t revive the controversial free service that drew more than 70 million registered users, along with a crippling copyright-infringement lawsuit from the major record labels and music publishers.
The layoffs trimmed Napster’s staff from 104 to 88, with the cuts coming primarily in customer service, business development and administration. Hilbers said no more layoffs are foreseen.
The company suspended its free service July 3 as it struggled to comply with a pretrial injunction against aiding music pirates, leading many of its users to flee Napster for other, active file-sharing services. Napster had hoped to revive the free song sharing, despite the opposition from labels and publishers, but abandoned that plan this month to concentrate on the subscription service.
