A interesting alternative to iTunes
Written: Mar 14 '07 (Updated May 20 '08)
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****UPDATE 05/20/08*****
Napster announced today that it's entire collection of 6,000,000 songs are now DRM free. This means that you can now purchase a digital song from Napster and use it on any mp3 player (including iPod, iPhone), burn it to a CD, or PC - or use it in any way you see fit without restriction. Napster is now the largest DRM free store (Apple has 2,000,000 DRM free songs).
****UPDATE 3/27/07****
Napster and AT&T have just announced a joint promotion, where you get a free subscription to Napster for one year ($180 value)
For existing AT&T customers, you have to purchase a New Phone, agree to a 2 year plan and sign up for ‘data’ plan.
For New customers you have to sign up to a qualifying plan, buy an applicable phone (two to choose from at the moment), and sign up for a ‘data’ plan.
Details are still a little sketchy, but the offer goes live April 1, 2007. It isn’t clear how existing customers can extend their contract and buy the new phone without penalties.
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Talk to anyone about Napster and they’ll tell you about the great days when you could share music with any one in the world for free. Many will neglect to tell you that this was illegal, and ultimately led to the downfall of Napster.
What many will not tell you, or maybe not even know is that Napster still exists, and in a wholly legal way.
**The New Napster**
Napster compete for the illustrious digital download pot with the likes of Microsoft (Zune), Real (Rhapsody), Yahoo (Yahoo Music) and the phenomenal Apple iTunes (and their ubiquitous iPod). Realizing that they cannot compete directly with the likes of Apple, they created a new ‘idea’ that delivered music in a different way, and sparked a debate of renting v owing music.
Napster currently have three different and unique ways of listening to music:
1) Subscription services- where you pay a monthly fee and are able to listen to any of their three million songs as long as you continue to subscribe.
2) Standard Download – in a similar vein to Apple, users can pay a fee for each song downloaded.
3) Free music – yes you heard it – Napster gives the ability to stream free ‘low quality’ music, from their whole catalogue (with restrictions).
**Subscription Service**
The idea is simple; pay a monthly fee and gain access to Napster’s complete library of music. There are two versions: Napster Subscription ($9.99 a month) and Napster-to-go ($14.95 a month).
The premise is essentially the same. With the standard subscription, you can download and listen to their entire catalog of music on up to three different PCs. The music is downloaded in high quality WMA format, and requires a Napster player to play (although Napster do provide a version of the Windows Media Center). These wma files can be streamed around the house, using the Windows Media Player and relevant hardware (for example XBOX 360).
This subscription is ideal if you want an unlimited duke box in your house and are not interested in listening to the songs elsewhere. You cannot burn the songs to an mp3 player or a CD.
For an additional $5 you can Subscripe to Napster-to-go; this adds the ability of transferring the wma files to any compatible mp3 player (must be Play For Sure compatible – this does NOT include the Zune or the iPod). You can transfer songs to up to three mp3 players.
Note – although there is no need – if you really want to, you can buy any of the songs for a discounted rate (79c) – this allows you to burn the songs to CD).
-Pros-
Obviously you are able to listen to 3,000,000 songs as long as you maintain a subscription. This is particularly useful if you have teenagers and find yourself spending a lot of money on CDs. My personal experience is that I have listened to a lot more new music as I don’t have to buy a CD, and thus I can expand my musical experience.
-Cons-
Many iPod fans will point out that you don’t own anything with a subscription service. If you stop paying the monthly charge then you lose access to all songs. (I note that for me it doesn’t really matter – I’ve paid for the same album 4 or 5 times – tape, CD, DVD Audio, mp3 file – so I never really felt I owned the album in the end as I knew I would always have to upgrade).
You cannot burn the songs to a CD – while not a major problem to me, this adds to the ‘owning’ argument.
Sometimes songs are not available for download – some newer ones take a while to become ‘subscription’ songs – while others drop off. While this is a pain, there are still 3,000,000 other songs to choose from.
**Standard Download**
Just like Itunes or Zune, you can pay-per-track. The typical cost is $.99, but you often find albums are cheaper, or you can buy ‘bundles’ of songs for a discount. (If you subscribe you can also buy individual songs for $0.79).
While the downloaded mp3 will not play on the iPod initially, you can effectively transfer it by burning to a CD and then importing it to the iPod – this can be a pain though.
Being honest, I haven’t downloaded many songs from Napster as I subscribe – I have won ‘downloads’ with surveys and the like and have had no trouble downloading and playing the songs.
**Free Music**
Currently Napster has two ways to get Free Music
-Download of the day – every day Napster makes available a free mp3 of their choice – this can be a classic song or an up and coming band – they keep a history of a weeks song so you can always download 7 songs at once. The format is mp3, and is playable on any mp3 player (including the iPod) or is burnable to a CD. There are no restrictions on the file.
-Streaming songs – you can stream any song in the Napster Library for free – you can only play a song three times though – but with 3,000,000 songs to listen to, you won’t get bored too soon. The quality isn’t great, more akin to am radio, but it is a great way to listen to songs before buying.
**Napster site / player – how good is it?**
Napster .com, and the Napster player are very good – perhaps not as sleek as iTunes but still good.
Some neat features on the site include the ability to share music with anyone. Simply search for a song and email a link to a friend – they can then play the song for free (up to three times) – you can use this link in a website or a blog too, thus sharing the music with the world.
All the free songs load a flash based player; the player is good, producing a good quality of song, but I have found that it can take a while to load on first try – this can be off putting at times. The player sometimes shows some ‘advertising’ but these are few and far between and don’t really detract from the main experience.
The main Napster player is quite intuitive (and is far better than Yahoo’s music player, although not as good as the iTunes player). There are some neat features that allow you to search for other play lists, or one of my favorites is the ability to search for all the songs that were on the Bill board charts at a certain time – so if you know there was a song that was number one in March 2000, but can’t remember it, then it should be easy to play.
The only downside is that Napster does not work on the Apple Mac (or the iPod).
**and there’s more**
Napster is now available on Cell Phones. Some services offer only the download catalog, at $1.99 per song, but if you have a ‘Play For Sure’ compatible cell phone, then you can use this as one of your 3 mp3 players on the ‘to go’ subscription.
Cingular offers the Napster service, with some neat Sony Walkman phones.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
quitesimply
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Member: Simon Cook
Location: Manchester NJ USA
Reviews written: 67
Trusted by: 9 members
About Me:
English Geek in the USA (Sounds like an update on a Sting song?)
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