Napster seems to be the cat that keeps on kicking.

Still on the ropes?

Left for dead from the music industry's barrage of lawsuits against in 2001, the former P2P giant has had several owners over the years, and looked to be on the ropes again last year as its numbers dwindled and the rumor mill buzzed about a possible sale of the company.

When Napster confirmed the rumors last September, saying it had hired an investment bank to "explore strategic alternatives, including a possible sale," many industry watchers predicted that the cat would be swallowed up by the likes of Google, RealNetworks, or even a mobile phone maker like Nokia.

But Napster said yesterday that it expects to beat its revenue projections for its fiscal third quarter, added 48,000 subscribers in the quarter, and has taken over Virgin Digital's music business in the US.

"We are pleased that fiscal third-quarter results are expected to be ahead of guidance, highlighted by a healthy subscriber increase of approximately 48,000 additions during the period, solid international growth on the heels of the Napster Japan launch, and continued expense management," Gorog said in a statement. "Napster has significantly improved its strategic position over the past 12 months, with a global footprint now including the top four music markets in the world and a robust mobile offering spanning multiple geographies and support from global operators including Cingular and DoCoMo, two of the world's largest wireless carriers. We look forward to providing further financial and operational updates on our regular quarterly conference call."

Napster said it anticipates reporting more than $28 million in revenue for the quarter ending December 31, with the additional subscriber additions taking total paid world subscribers to 566,000. In the previous quarter, Napster's subscriber rolls dropped 7 percent to 518,000.

The company had previously estimated revenue at $27 million. Analysts had, on average, forecast revenue of $27.4 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Napster's subscribers downloaded 500 million songs and more than 700 million music streams in the 2006 calendar year.