Yahoo, Napster compete

Apple's iTunes still dominates the online music industry with 82 percent of the U.S. market, leaving others such as Napster, Yahoo, MSN, and RealNetworks fighting for the leftovers. Analyst firm notes that over the past few months, the competitive landscape in online music has remained virtually unchanged. Yahoo has retained its low initial pricing and altered its website to exclude references to "introductory" with regard to its subscription pricing, which could lead to a positive market share shift for the company, according to Piper Jaffray. Yahoo is also expected to maintain its current low prices throughout the year, and indicated that portable subscription pricing will go up at some point, but not until there are Windows based audio devices that can leverage it. Napster raised estimates in the June quarter and is slowly making use of new initiatives to leverage its brand, which is the company's core asset.

by MacNN Staff