Internet music business Napster Inc. plans to start charging subscription fees by June or July of this year, Bertelsmann AG chairman Thomas Middelhoff said. “We carried out market research among 20,000 Napster users. The willingness to pay is given,” the head of the German media company said Monday during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Bertelsmann, the parent company of the BMG music unit, signed a watershed cooperation deal with Napster in October. It’s trying to bring the Internet music site together with other players in the industry in an effort to legitimatize the popular Web site. Earlier this month, independent record label TVT Records announced it was dropping its lawsuit against Napster, becoming the second such record label to do so after Bertelsmann. However, much of the world’s recording industry remains at loggerheads with Napster, a Web site that allows registered users to swap music files free of charge.
