It is a great way of getting music to people - if you are in some far flung part of the world, there is no better way of accessing music

Musician Rob Lord

But Mr Lord, who is based in London, said the service had not harmed the recording industry and that the legal action was "too late to change anything".

He said: "Once the box is open it will stay open. Napster is not going to go away.

"Record companies were caught napping by Napster."

He said he had little sympathy for high-profile acts such as Metallica who have led the charge against Napster, seemingly on behalf of all musicians.

"If they had been some kind of left-of-field band, who only release an album with 5,000 pressings, rather than millionaire, chauffeur-driven stars, then I would take their complaints more seriously."

Subscription service

Mr Lord has worked as a musician in TV and advertising as well as providing soundtracks for computer games, such as Discworld and Aladdin.

He has also worked as a session musician and releases albums of experimental and electronic music.

Napster has gone to great lengths in recent months in an attempt to legitimise itself and Mr Lord feels it could soon resurface as a subscription service.

He said: "Most people would be happy to pay a fee to access the service. I would."

If someone had a similar taste in music to me then I would contact them offering them a copy of my new album - for me, it worked in a positive fashion

Rob Lord

As well as downloading songs via Napster, Mr Lord has also used it as an alternative method of distributing his own material.

"If someone had a similar taste in music to me then I would contact them offering them a copy of my new album. For me, it worked in a very positive fashion. It is great for file sharing in a small way."

'Satisfying'

He believes the recording industry will survive unscathed because people continue to want their own physical copy of an album or single.

"Fans all want to own the CDs, with all the art work and sleeve notes. There is something very satisfying about owning the album, dropping the needle on the record."

"People can copy albums onto tape, mini-disc and with a CD burner but this has not harmed the recording industry."

But he admitted that if he relied on album sales for a living, his attitude to Napster could be different.

"You can play MP3 tracks on your computer and a personal stereo but people will still want to buy and own albums."