Napster and Blockbuster Online in Co-Marketing Deal

Napster and Blockbuster Online entered a co-marketing deal to package their music and movie services together in a “Digital Duo” gift card. The card, which will be available in time for the holidays, costs $20 and is available at RadioShack retail outlets.

Card holders get unlimited access to Napster’s music library and two free track downloads from that service, as well as a month of free movie rentals from Blockbuster’s DVD-by-mail offering.

The Digital Duo card offers 32 percent savings off what consumers would pay by purchasing the same digital entertainment packages separately. Ordinarily, the Blockbuster Online membership is $17.49 per month and a month of Napster access costs $9.95.

“Blockbuster Online has the instant brand recognition and massive catalog that make it the natural partner for Napster, and we’re excited to be introducing the Digital Duo card together,” said Larry Linietsky, Napster’s senior VP of business development. “We expect this to be an extremely popular gift item during the holidays at RadioShack.”

In August, Blockbuster began promoting its DVD rental service through partnerships with America Online and Microsoft’s MSN. Its offering is similar to that of Netflix and rivals like Wal-Mart and GreenCine. For the monthly fee, subscribers get unlimited rentals and can receive up to three movies at a time. They also can get two free rentals a month from Blockbuster stores.