Napster moves into mobile phones

In a bid to further extend its influence, Napster has formed a partnership with Motorola, who will soon begin promoting the former as the main way of downloading music to its phones. The first step will be an offer of a free month of the Napster To Go subscription service, which gives access to over three million songs, although in the US, these disappear when a subscription ends. European customers will have access to five permanent downloads when they sign up.

Promotions will apply to both existing and out-of-the-box phones, and network carriers as well as retail shops. Unfortunately for those against DRM, all tracks will be in the protected Windows Media format. Retail offers are set to be launched in Europe and the US in the second half of 2007.