MP3 store

Consumer electronics giant Best Buy announced Monday that it will acquire digital-music pioneer Napster for $121 million. Under the terms of the agreement, Napster shareholders will receive $2.65 for each outstanding share. The companies expect the purchase to be completed in the fourth quarter.

Brian Dunn, president and COO of Best Buy, said the deal will give the retailer's customers an expanded range of options for the delivery of electronic media.

Rhapsody on Monday partnered with MTV Networks to launch Music Without Limits. They want to accomplish three goals in the digital-music industry: Speed the migration from proprietary formats such as Digital Rights Management (DRM) music; empower music fans to stream full-length songs and buy MP3s from music sites and social networks on the Web; and integrate digital music directly with mobile phones.

Napster is looking to shake up the online music scene once more. On Tuesday, the digital-music pioneer announced the launch of what it described as "the world's largest and most comprehensive MP3 store." All downloads will be free of digital-rights management (DRM) restrictions.