Napster signs up UK indie labels

Teenage Dirtbags rejoice

Good news at last for Napster, the once-loved, always hounded P2P music download operation.

The Bertelsmann-backed site is to offer - legally - thousands of tracks from European indie bands, from record labels represented by The UK Association of Independent Music (AIM) and the Independent Music Companies Association.

Napster is launching a subscription service this summer, but has failed to attract any of the big five music companies apart from Bertelsmann. There's plenty of fish in the sea though - the majors collectively account for just 70 per cent of the $37bn recorded music industry. ®'