OTHERS INTERESTED IN
NEW NAPSTER

Bertelsmann said Friday (11/24) talks with a number of record companies about joining its alliance with the controversial online music provider were going well.

Bertelsmann last month hooked up with Napster to create a membership-based service that paid royalties, shocking a music industry that is currently embroiled in a mammoth legal tussle with the file-swapping company.

"The [other major] companies have shown an interest in the talks, which are underway," Bertelsmann spokesman Frank Sarfeld said. He added that Andreas Schmidt, head of Bertelsmann's BeCG online unit, had been holding intensive discussions in the United States but he said it was still unclear when these talks would be concluded.