Lagging behind the competition in the downloadable-music race, AT&T finally gets its act together and starts offering more over-the-air music downloads through a deal with Napster; too bad about the price, though.

Unveiled today and slated to launch in mid-November, the partnership means AT&T subscribers will be able to browse Napster's catalog of more than five million downloadable songs; the press release doesn't specify what kind of phone you'll need, but I'm guessing a 3G-capable handset will be required. (The service doesn't work on the iPhone; then again, iPhone users have the Wi-Fi iTunes store.) Previously, AT&T customer could side-load Napster tunes to their phones or download songs from indie service eMusic, while Sprint and Verizon Wireless launched their respective wireless music stores many moons ago.

All well and good, but here's the catch: songs from the AT&T/Napster service will cost $2 each, or $7.50 for five per month. That’s twice as much as songs from, say, the Sprint Music Store or the wireless iTunes store, which cost 99 cents each. AT&T is touting exclusive content from the likes of Matchbox Twenty to sweeten the pill, but it still sounds like a raw deal to me. My guess is that AT&T and Napster will eventually lower prices to keep up with its competitors.

Related:
AT&T to offer Napster music catalog [Yahoo! News]