Napster gives free downloads to Sun readers

Napster has teamed up with uber red top The Sun to give away music downloads.

For the next nine Saturdays, Napster will allow the Currant Bun's readers to download their choice of tunes from its library of 750,000 gratis.

The pair will be kicking off the download giveaway with a competition for one downloader to snag a trip to Napster LA HQ, with other prizes of Samsung and Rio Chiba music players, NTL broadband subscriptions and Napster parent Roxio's software.

Napster is hoping to hook a slice of The Sun's 10 million readership and 4.5 million online visitors through the partnership. The song seller has also recently buddied-up with Dixons and NTL to bundle its software with the pair's products.

While Napster may now be working on the legal side of the music downloading business, it seems other less than legit operations are thriving in the booming song-shop economy.

According to figures from the UK record industry association, the BPI, last year music piracy rose by 13 per cent, while legitimate music sales rose by just over two per cent.

The BPI puts the rise down to a heightened interest from organised crime in flogging pirated CDs at boot fairs and the like - a business that's more profitable and less risky than selling drugs, the organisation says.

Pirated music is worth £56.1m annually - that's the equivalent of just over four per cent of the legitimate market.