“Napster provided a disappointing outlook for its online music service and said its subscriber base had fallen 7 percent as it focused on promoting a new free Web site on Wednesday,” Sue Zeidler reports for Reuters.

Zeidler reports, “On a conference call with analysts, Chief Executive Officer Chris Gorog said he would not rule out a sale of the company. ‘We do not have our heads in the sand regarding an M&A (merger and acquisition) transaction. We continue to receive a lot of interest in the company. We will always carefully weigh any valuation alternative against the opportunity and risk associated with continuing as a standalone company,’ Gorog told analysts on a conference call.’”

“Napster reported a net loss of $9.8 million for the first fiscal quarter compared with a year-earlier loss of $19.9 million. Revenue rose to $28.1 million from $21 million,” Zeidler reports. “Napster’s total paid subscriber base as of June 30 was 512,000, including 4,000 university-paid subscriptions. Excluding university, the number of paid subscribers grew 26 percent year-over-year.”

Full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "NeverFade" for the heads up.]

MacDailyNews Take: The gravy train of foolhardy colleges and universities has finally derailed for beleaguered Napster. To describe the outlook for beleaguered Napster as “dismal” would be far too charitable.

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