News

Napster Intros New MP3 Store

Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 at 9:05 AM - by

Napster launched a new MP3-based online music service on Tuesday with about six million copy protection-free songs. Napster's decisions to go with DRM-free MP3 tracks means that its songs are compatible with a wide range digital media devices including Apple's iPod and iPhone.


Napster's MP3 store

Napster's MP3 tracks include high resolution album art, can be burned to CD, and moved between computers. Individual tracks sell for US$0.99 each, and most albums are priced around $10.

The Napster MP3 purchase service is compatible with the Firefox Web browser on the Mac, or FireFox and Internet Explorer on Windows. Windows users can also purchase songs with the Napster application which can automatically add tracks to iTunes.

While Apple's iTunes Store does offer copy protection-free tracks from EMI, it still hasn't been able to get other record labels to agree to offer songs without DRM limitations. Napster, however, along with other online services including Amazon MP3 have been able to swing deals for copy protection free music -- a move that many see as an intentional act on the part of the music labels to snub Apple for its strict pricing policy.

Apple may hold the market leading position with its iTunes Store, but it could see some long term erosion if its competitors continue to swing the DRM-free deals that everyone else seems to be able to land.

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vasic said:

member since 09 Aug 2005 with 278 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue May 20, 2008 10:50 am

It is ironic how year and a half ago, Steve Jobs wrote an open letter to music labels about the need to remove DRM. They sniped at him collectively (and individually), and now they are taking their revenge against Apple (for whatever twisted reason or logic) by doing exactly that and giving it to the competitors.

Labels are ready to do just about anything, no matter how damaging it may be to their business, just to limit the level of dominance and amount of leverage Steve Jobs has over their business.

It is doubtful that Napster would attract many iTunes switchers. Why go shop around when everything is available at Costco, from your morning cereal, to your frozen vegetables, to your LCD TVs and Blu-Ray players?

Napster, Amazon, and any other player that waltzes into this business will continue to fight for one out of every 7 dollars spent on digital downloads. The other six will go to Apple. And perhaps, one day, lables will realise that there is no point in forcing DRM on Apple and will finally just give in.

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tuscmat said:

member since 06 May 2004 with 35 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue May 20, 2008 11:25 am

vasic wrote:
It is ironic how year and a half ago, Steve Jobs wrote an open letter to music labels about the need to remove DRM. They sniped at him collectively (and individually), and now they are taking their revenge against Apple (for whatever twisted reason or logic) by doing exactly that and giving it to the competitors.

Labels are ready to do just about anything, no matter how damaging it may be to their business, just to limit the level of dominance and amount of leverage Steve Jobs has over their business.

It is doubtful that Napster would attract many iTunes switchers. Why go shop around when everything is available at Costco, from your morning cereal, to your frozen vegetables, to your LCD TVs and Blu-Ray players?

Napster, Amazon, and any other player that waltzes into this business will continue to fight for one out of every 7 dollars spent on digital downloads. The other six will go to Apple. And perhaps, one day, lables will realise that there is no point in forcing DRM on Apple and will finally just give in.

That won't happen. The labels want Apple to go way no matter how long it takes. Once that happens, DRM will be re-imposed from these other services to "maximize the user experience and provide value".

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vasic said:

member since 09 Aug 2005 with 278 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue May 20, 2008 11:53 am

tuscmat wrote:

That won't happen. The labels want Apple to go way no matter how long it takes. Once that happens, DRM will be re-imposed from these other services to "maximize the user experience and provide value".

There is no doubt that they want iTunes to go away. No matter how long it takes? If the trends continue, Apple's dominance in the music market in the US will soon be difficult for labels to avoid. Regardless of how much they are fighting Apple, iTunes is now firmly No. 1 seller of music, downloadable OR physical. This lead continues to expand every month, with spiraling CD sales and growing download sales. ITunes market share in the download space continues to dominate, with no signs of erosion. In addition, according to NPD, in April 2008, iTunes's share of the total music sold in the US (this includes CDs) was 19%. Apparently, one in 5 dollars spent on music goes to iTunes. No label trying to sell their product can have a negotiating position with a distributor who is responsible for one out of five dollars of their revenue.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue May 20, 2008 12:27 pm

I find it surprising how myopic the viewpoints are that have been expressed. Apple is dominant now because they were effectively first to market with a viable solution. Many people don't like the DRM restrictions. If the solutions offered by Napster and Amazon as are simple to use and come without the DRM, then it is only a matter of time before Apple's dominance will be diminished. Apple should not lull themselves into the self-secured position that typifies some other competitors in other areas (e.g. IBM - Mainframes, SUN - Workstations, Microsoft - PCs)

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vasic said:

member since 09 Aug 2005 with 278 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue May 20, 2008 12:38 pm

If anyone knows Apple (and S. Jobs), they know that Apple is not a company to sleep on their laurels. If there is a viable threat to their dominance, I won't be surprised if quick action is taken.

The point is, general public has no idea what is DRM. Virtually all of my iTunes-buying, iPod-owning friends buy music on iTunes regularly. Most don't even know what iTunes Plus is. Those who are vaguely familiar only know that these tracks are 'better sounding' than the other ones. Practically all of these people are oblivious to the concept of DRM. From that perspective, competition can only be attractive if the price is significantly better than on iTunes. While Amazon's little applet allows for a decent integration with iTunes, nobody can match total integration, where everything resides in the same place: your iPod, your playlists, your movies, your podcasts, as well as the store where you can buy more of music, movies and TV shows, as well as browse through and subscribe to podcasts.

For the same reason why most people continue to buy Windows PCs, here we'll have most people continue to buy from iTunes.

I'm declaring it again: labels will cave and give up iTunes DRM. The only question is, how long will we have to wait for that.

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deasys said:

member since 08 Apr 2003 with 296 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue May 20, 2008 1:58 pm

tuscmat wrote:
That won't happen. The labels want Apple to go way no matter how long it takes. Once that happens, DRM will be re-imposed from these other services to "maximize the user experience and provide value".

Yes, that's my fear. If the market succumbs to the cartel's dirty little tricks, the cartel will eventually have its way.

Don't give them what they want. I support the iTunes Store.

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mahuti said:

member since 09 Jan 2003 with 377 posts, TMO Staff, send him a message or view his profile

Tue May 20, 2008 10:41 pm

Regardless. The tracks cost the same as iTunes, the site doesn't work in Safari, it crashed firefox and hung a lot, lastly, the UI is kinda crappy. So far, it's not an impressive service. I've used Amazon quite a bit for MP3s, and I much prefer it, not to mention the tracks are cheaper than Napster. I still buy iTunes + tracks when avaialable, otherwise it's going to be Amazon for me.

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