NDSoft Plans to Launch Napster-Like Service

In “American Pie,” Don McLean sang about the day the music died, but NDSoft isn’t going to have any part of it.

As Napster shifts from a free service to a subscription-based operation for downloading MP3 music files, three University of Arkansas seniors and a recent grad from Brown University have gotten together to launch NDSoft.

NDSoft is a software platform that will provide online transfers of a variety of digital files: music, video, art, photography, blueprints — “anything that can be digitized,” said CEO Grant Hufford.

NDSoft differs from Napster in that NDSoft users will pay per download, rather than by a monthly subscription fee. Musicians and “content owners,” as they’re described, will be able to set the prices per download (or allow them for free), and NDSoft will receive a percentage or charge a fee to make the material available to its clients.

Of course, NDSoft also differs from Napster in that it hasn’t officially “launched” yet, and its executives are a bit vague on when that might happen. They hinted that it would be before the end of the year.

David Embree, a Sturgis Fellow at the UA whose NDSoft job title is “creative visionary,” said it will cost about $500,000 for a “maximum launch.” That amount includes a central computer, hard drive and Internet bandwidth, among other things. But Sarah Keith, NDSoft’s business manager, said the company may spend much less and grow after it begins operation. The company is currently seeking investors.

Keith predicts NDSoft will be self-sufficient within six months of its debut in cyberspace. The company hopes to “secure a base of several million system users.”

Initially, NDSoft will work with independent musicians, Embree said. The site may also serve as a venue for Embree, a music major who plays acoustic guitar. Embree said he’s gotten interest in the project from John Bell Young, a classical pianist, and Scooter Scudieri, a guitarist who writes about music and emerging technology. Later, NDSoft may approach record companies for downloadable music.

Stephen Smith, the company’s “chief software architect,” explains that NDSoft will use a combination of a central network and peer-to-peer transfers, which will allow NDSoft users to download information from each other (with the host receiving a small payment from the downloader for the service).

In its literature, NDSoft said its service “will provide the public with any inexpensive, convenient way to access a wide range of content.”

The group got the idea for NDSoft in April, incorporated in May and opened its first office in mid-July at Drake Field, the almost abandoned building that housed Fayetteville’s commercial airport until the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport opened in 1998.

In August, NDSoft is scheduled to move into new offices at the UA’s Genesis Technology Incubator in Fayetteville. There, in addition to getting subsidized rent, NDSoft will have access to the university’s research expertise.

Embree said the idea for NDSoft came about because the principals in the company thought it was something they would use if available.

NDSoft’s Web address is www.ndsoft.net.