Filed under: iPod Family, iTS, iPhone
Napster MP3 store to rival iTunes store with 6 million DRM-free tracks
Napster has announced that it is now offering DRM-free MP3 downloads that play on the iPod family and the iPhone. Furthermore, the library is 6 million songs which puts it in the same league as the iTunes Store, and indeed far eclipses the latter in DRM-free offerings. The MP3s are 256kbps and cost 99 cents per track with "most" MP3 albums at $9.95.Personally, I had long since moved most of my download music buying to Amazon MP3 to take advantage of the DRM-free offerings (and slightly lower price) versus the iTunes Store. The main disadvantage to Amazon MP3 was the smaller library; now with Napster offering a similar sized library to the iTunes Store it will be interesting to see if and how Apple responds. Indeed it will be interesting to see if Apple is able to respond with more DRM-free music since it seems clear that the record companies are basically triangulating against Cupertino in a bid to undermine Apple's online music dominance.
[via Engadget]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
NotAwesome said 11:48AM on 5-21-2008
For the same reasons, I've moved over to Amazon for my music purchases. Makes me sad not to buy from iTunes but Apple needs to remove DRM in order to keep me.
Does Napster allow Mac users to buy music from their catalog now? Last time I checked (admittedly a few years ago), they didn't.
If they can supplement the dearth of stuff on Amazon, all the better for consumers.
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JoolsG4 said 11:51AM on 5-21-2008
Totally useless if, like most of the world, you don't live in the USA.
Also, totally useless if your browser of choice is Safari.
Get a clue napster!
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Troy said 8:24AM on 5-23-2008
You have a choice when bringing a service like this online. Go ahead and open and cater to the mass market (Windows and IE) at first and then bring something for niche markets (like the Mac) online later, or wait until you can support everything losing out on the Windows user revenue in the process.
I don't blame them for doing it. As long as they are planning to add Mac support as quickly as possible.
scott Newton said 11:57AM on 5-21-2008
I'm all for competition - everyone benefits from competition and innovation - even Apple can be pushed to do better.
But it hardly seems fair that music and media companies are granting access to anyone-but-Apple to DRM-free music (or video content in the case of NBC). After all it was Steve Jobs who wrote a public letter (last year?) urging music companies to abandon DRM.
Instead of celebrating the fact that a large outlet of electronic downloads has emerged to begin to compensate for the decline in physical media (CD) sales, the big music companies are fighting the iTunes music store, and hoping to impose much higher prices for popular tracks.
As soon as Apple loses that battle, you can bet that Amazon and Napster will no longer be able to offer uniform prices for their music either. Because Apple is actually holding our for consumer-friendly practices, they will still get my business.
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Brandon Martinez said 1:12PM on 5-23-2008
I think I do agree with that statement. I do believe competition is good, but I can see that iTunes is holding the backbone as far as online music goes, and once that backbone breaks, the ribs just fall apart :P
Music will cost an arm and a leg.
Wow, sorry.
mark said 12:14PM on 5-21-2008
The last time I checked Napster was a SUBSCRIPTION ONLY model, whereas iTunes is not.
No thanks. Why the heck would I want to pay a monthly fee FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE to keep the music I downloaded from Napster? I realize many people don't get this concept, but I do and don't have money to foolishly waste like this.
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Mat Lu said 12:19PM on 5-21-2008
DRM-free MP3s. Think about that for a while and then come back. Don't worry, we'll wait.
Buzz Binzen said 12:18PM on 5-21-2008
I think the correct term is conspiring, not triangulating.
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Mat Lu said 12:19PM on 5-21-2008
Three vertices: (1) Apple/iTS, (2) other download stores, (3) record companies.
Todd Sieling said 12:21PM on 5-21-2008
I've thought Napster was a dead story and brand so many times, but it keeps coming back. I guess a cat as a logo was quite prescient :)
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Ryan said 12:26PM on 5-21-2008
I used to download via Napster, converting, moving from Fusion to OSX, importing (converting wma-to-aac) into iTunes.
Now, I torrent full albums at a time. Arrgh!
P.S. I still give Napster $5 a month, for some reason...
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Allan said 12:49PM on 5-21-2008
The Ars hands-on is a good read for this:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080520-hands-on-napsters-new-mp3-store-stumbles-out-of-the-gate.html
Seems like not all of these 6m songs are as available as they're supposed to be. But even if they were, still not in my future to be using Napster again.
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mcdermd said 12:59PM on 5-21-2008
I've moved to buying used CDs again. Having a physical backup with no DRM and cheap prices (check half.com or Amazon marketplace - you'll find some as low as $2.50USD shipped) seems to be the best way for me. Sure I can't have it "right now" but the pros far outweigh the cons.
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Johnny Thrash said 1:48PM on 5-21-2008
And where is the Mac version of this software?
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We're sorry, Napster is not currently compatible with your operating system.
Napster is currently only compatible with Windows Vista/XP/2000.
Windows 95/98/ME/NT and the Mac OS are not supported at this time.
---
Yea, that's what I thought.
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Subliminal Fusion said 2:54PM on 5-21-2008
If you're in the US, you don't need the software to download MP3s or stream as much music as you want with a subscription - it can all be done on the website - http://www.napster.com/store
Øivind said 2:09PM on 5-21-2008
Totally useless - again. They never learn. We can't keep paying $10 for each album. It just doesn't work anymore, and it's forcing people to download illegally. I'd much rather pay up to $100 a month to download as much music as I want. It's about time they give us subscription based limitless music downloads so we can finally go legal and still experience the ease of use we're used to.
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mark said 3:16PM on 5-21-2008
@Matt Lu
I DRM free my itunes music tracks by the usual method. Piece of cake and NO monthly fee.
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mark said 3:19PM on 5-21-2008
Trying to determine what is going on at Napster's site is a joke. Since I clearly don't get how their model works and what programs they actually offer, perhaps they should hire someone to explain it on their site. All I see is subscription.
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Justin said 3:39PM on 5-21-2008
Since people are confused....
the drm-free mp3's do NOT require a subscription.
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Grimloch said 4:12PM on 5-21-2008
I think there's a third way.
What if Apple just closed iTMS and instead had a direct portal within iTunes to Amazon?
If Apple basically breaks even on iTMS anyway and it's basically a lead-in to sell more iPods, iPhones and computers -- it's the integration with iTunes that makes it compelling.
They could just as easily integrate with another service, too. Heck, iTMS could be a skin for Amazon if they wanted it to. I'm sure Amazon wouldn't mind at all ;)
Apple still sells more hardware. Amazon makes more money. Music Companies still lose more control and customers get DRM-free music. Everybody (but the record companies) wins.
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