Almost nine out of 10 Napster users will abandon the free music file-swapping community once it introduces fees, according to a survey conducted by ZDNet.

The survey, conducted in the aftermath of Napster's decision to sell part of its business to US record giant Bertelsmann and introduce membership fees, found that only 13 percent of Australia's file-swapping community would consider using the Napster service once it introduces fees.

Almost 80 percent of respondents said they would seek an alternative free Internet music exchange immediately Napster fees were introduced. Around eight percent of respondents said they would abandon music file swapping altogether, the survey found.

Napster and Bertelsmann said in a joint statement that the companies had not yet reached an agreement on how much would be charged to members, or when fees would be introduced.

-Bertelsmann e-Commerce Group will provide a loan to Napster to enable development of the new service and will hold a warrant to acquire a portion of Napster's equity," the joint statement said.

-We want to ensure the continued growth of the Napster Community," a separate Napster statement read.

-Bertelsmann will help us reach an acceptable solution with the labels and publishers that will allow us to compensate artists, resolve the legal dispute and grow our service to meet the needs of our expanding user base in a manner that is consistent with Napster's values," the Napster statement read.

Roughly, one thousand ZDNet Australia readers responded to the survey.

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