Napster to sell (wait for it) MP3s!
p2pnet news | Music:- The wheel has indeed come a full circle.
Napster, the P2P file sharing application which started it all, making MP3 music files available online only to be crushed by the members of the music industry, finally re-emerging as a corporate sales venture under the Napster name, is to start selling downloads.
As MP3s.
Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG, the members of what’s today the Big 4 organised music cartel, used Napster II in their first penetration of the American university system by which students were, and still, ordered to buy Big 4 product, and only Big 4 product, on pain of being harassed endlessly by the Big 4’s RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America).
However, even with this behind it, and further supported by other financially intensive corporate efforts to turn it into an at least partially going concern, Napster has never come even close to making it.
More recently, at the end of last year, “The new Higher Education Bill (HEA §494) requires that the Universities stop all P2P downloads that RIAA doesn’t like AND buy Napster or Rhapsody subscriptions for every student on the campus or lose all federal financial aid,” said p2pnet, quoting Sunny Kalara on BizOrigin.
Now, the company says it’ll “shift its complete download sales catalog on its PC service to the MP3 format in the second calendar quarter of 2008.”
Shawn Fanning who created Napster, moving to the dark side with Snocap, a largely DRM (Digital Restrictions Management) consumer control effort which went into meltdown halfway through December, 2007, must be laughing his head off.
All “single track and album sales will soon be exclusively available in the MP3 format, which will be compatible with all MP3 players and music phones,” says Napster Inc, calling it an “initiative”.
“As there is now a critical mass of support for MP3s we are very pleased to announce we will soon offer our customers the user-friendly MP3 file format throughout our product line-up and provide the top-tier content our users expect from Napster,” says company boss Chris Gorog (upper right).
No! Really! This isn’t a p2pnet spoof!
(Don’t bother to stay tuned.)
Also see:
first penetration – Penn State’s Spanier: RIAA all the way, January 1, 2008
p2pnet – Use Napster or lose federal $: universities threat, November 13, 2007
BizOrigin – Now RIAA wants Universities to get campus wide Napster subscription or ‘lose all federal financial aid’, November 12, 2007
Napster Inc – Napster Music To Be Available In MP3 Format , January 7, 2008
dark side with Snocap – Snocap melting away, December 14, 2007
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January 7th, 2008 at 7:15 am
Any particular reasons why you felt the need to mention this is not a spoof?
hehe
January 7th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Hurray………. I hope.
As long as it doesn’t end up going belly up this is a good thing.
I hate limitations and DRM.
Hopefully this MP3 format war continues and we see a complete shift in online music.
the next big hit will be when all MP3 players start using the MP3 format as well.
January 7th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Damn! No more Digital Consumer Enablement for Napster? Now you’re really gonna see what it feels like to be restricted.
Watch this space.
January 7th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Unbelievable. “As there is now a critical mass of support for MP3s we are very pleased to announce we will soon offer our customers the user-friendly MP3 file format throughout our product line-up and provide the top-tier content our users expect from Napster,”
So, the reason they didn’t offer mp3s before was because they weren’t well supported. That makes perfect sense. I guess their crippled format had better support than mp3, until now.
If you are an invester, run fast! Sell everything and run now!!!
January 7th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Aaron
their interpretation of the term “critical mass” might be fundamentally different from those of us normal guys (or they simply misspoke again?!)
Maybe they understand critical mass as a mass that is about to explode and terminate them finaly What they have realised will happen if they don’t start with mp3 now after 7 years.
(In the meantime those that have some serious kind of internetconnectivity have already switched from mp3 to flac and organised music again comes to late when they think they can sell now soundreduced stuff that will be in the end more expensive then those bargain sale 9,99 EUR CD box sets with 3to5CDs and ~50 old songs on them in real “perfect digital quality”)
January 7th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Are you insane?
Do not send any money to Napster!
Any money you send to Napster will end up in the pocket of these RIAA parasites and they will use YOUR MONEY! to persecute honest citizen in the exercise of their constitutional right!
Send your money to indies companies opposed to the Sue’Them all campain or better directly to the artists as long as they do not support the RIAA.
BOYCOTT THE RIAA!
January 7th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Will these mp3 files come at 128 kbs for $3.99 plus tax? How about complimentary waterboarding for the non compliant “customers”. George W Bush said it was ok in Cuba, so why not let Americans in on the fun as well.