Napster Subscribers Up 50%

Napster announced that it ended its third quarter with a total of 270,000 paying subscribers to its digital music service, including 44,000 from universities, representing a 50% increase from the second quarter. While reporting a loss of $16.4 million for the quarter, the company also said it earned $12.8 million — which included gains from the sale of its Roxio CD and DVD burning software unit — compared with a loss of $25.6 million in the same period a year ago. Los Angeles-based Napster expects to earn $14 million in its coming quarter, and raised its full-year revenue projection to $43 million, up from an earlier estimate of between $35 and $40 million.