Napster has come full circle.

Napster CEO Chris Gorog

The digital music subscription service, which turned the music industry on its ear in a previous incarnation nearly 10 years ago with unrestricted file-sharing, will begin offering DRM-free MP3 downloads.

Napster said it will begin selling unrestricted downloads in the second quarter of this year, joining the likes of Amazon's MP3 store and Apple's iTunes Plus in selling music that can play on any MP3 player, regardless of its maker.

"The ubiquity and cross-platform compatibility of MP3s should create a more level playing field for music services and hardware providers and result in greater ease of use and broader adoption of digital music," Chris Gorog, Napster's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.

The file format change will apply only to single tracks and album purchases. Napster will continue loading DRM (digital rights management) onto music downloaded through its music subscription offering, by which users pay a monthly fee for unlimited music rentals.

The company recently told subscribers that it will increase fees on its basic subscription plan from $9.95 to $12.95 a month beginning January 30. It gave existing subscribers the option to lock in the lower monthly fee if they pay for a full year in advance.

Napster did not say which record companies had agreed to license its music for sale as MP3s.

Napster ended the quarter with about 750,000 paid subscribers. The company has gone through myriad changes since Shawn Fanning launched it from his college dorm room in the late 1990s, with its latest incarnation starting in 2003 when Roxio bought the name.