Napster is a free service that allows Internet users to download digital music files from other people's computers without the permission of the artists, record labels, or publishers.

"From the point of view of the music lover, what's going on can only be viewed as an exciting new development in the history of music," said Prince, whose hits include "1999," "When Doves Cry," and "Cream."

"And fortunately for (the music lover), there does not seem to be anything the old record companies can do about preventing this evolution from happening."

He leveled his most pointed criticism at Richard Parsons, the president of Time Warner Inc., the parent company of his former label Warner Brothers.

Parsons was quoted in an article in the Los Angeles Times two weeks ago as saying, "An increasing number of young people don't buy albums, so we are not only losing that immediate revenue. They are growing up with a notion that music is free and ought to be free."

"This statement deals with the relationship between music and the public from a purely commercial point of view," Prince said.

"Nowhere in his statement is there any indication that what might happen with young people exchanging music is that they might develop a real appreciation of music in general and ... be perfectly honest citizens who realize that artists should be compensated for their work," he added.

A Time Warner spokesman responded, "Dick (Parsons) has a lot of respect for Prince as an artist and as a musician. But that doesn't change the company's position on Napster."

Time Warner's Warner Music Group is among five major record labels suing the San Mateo, California company for violations of copyright law, calling the service a haven for piracy.

The other labels are Sony Music Entertainment, Seagram Co.'s Universal Music Group, BMG, the music unit of Bertelsmann AG and EMI Group Plc.

Napster claims its service is not copyright infringement as the record labels claim, arguing instead that the service is "fair use" of intellectual property -- the argument that allows people to make copies of music, documents, and artwork for personal non-commercial use.

Napster officials were not immediately available for comment.

Prince said that Napster is an illustration of "the growing frustration over how much the record companies control what music people get to hear.

"Young people...need to be educated about how the record companies have exploited artists and abused their rights for so long and about the fact that online distribution is turning into a new medium which might enable artists to put an end to this exploitation."

Prince has long been an outspoken critic of the record industry, stemming in part by a dispute with Warner Brothers over the ownership of his master recordings and the pace at which he was allowed to release albums.

During the dispute, he changed his written name to a cryptic, unpronounceable symbol and took to appearing in public with the word "slave" painted on his face.

Prince is one of the higher profile artists to use the Internet to sell music outside traditional channels.