Napster $5 a month streaming ‘deal’
p2pnet news view DRM | Music:- Speaking of Warner Music’s Choruss ‘licensing’ scheme, it’s said imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and deeply troubled Napster (the corporate doppelganger, not the original P2P filesharing application which signalled the creation of an exciting new way to distribute music, and the demise of the corporate music dinosaurs) is praying it’s found a new way to stay alive.
Under new ownership, “The Napster subscription service introduced a new pricing tier that allows users to stream an unlimited number of songs and download five DRM-free tracks a month for $5,” says Billboard.
“The offer does not require subscribers to download the Napster client, but rather can be streamed from any Internet-connected device, such as computers and WiFi stereos and receivers.”
Wow! What a cool and original idea! Wonder why no on else has thought of it?
In much the same way $1 has been universally accepted as the grossly unreal standard price for corporate music downloads, $5 seems to be the number everyone but the people expected to pay it agree is okay for unlimited listening — but not owning, sharing or downloading.
For example, it’s the price touted by Warner’s Choruss, on one side of the fence, and the EFF on the other.
Meanwhile, “In addition, the company will sell prepaid cards redeemable for the monthly service in Best Buy stores,” says Billboard, observing Best Buy “acquired the Napster service last October”.
Best Buy employees will also try to, “upsell customers who purchase Internet-connected devices on the new Napster plan,” the story has Napster COO Christopher Allen stating.
“Napster will still retain the Napster To Go portable subscription for $15 a month, which relies on Windows DRM devices …”
They just never learn, do they?
No need to stay tuned.
‘licensing’ scheme – Warner Music`s Choruss, revisited, May 18, 2009
deeply troubled Napster – Napster: worth more dead than alive, July 21, 2008
Billboard – Napster Introduces $5 Unlimited Stream, Five Download Tier, May 18, 2009
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May 18th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Why on earth would I pay for a streaming service when I can have one for free such as Spotify?
May 18th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
@Rabbit80
but, but… you get 5 free DRM-Free songs per month for 5$. Its free!
May 18th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
Another losing proposition. You fork out money and all you get are 5 songs a month? Let me guess, they are preselected for you. Why would I pay for streaming? What is in it for the money for me? Doesn’t look like any sort of a deal from this end. When the money is gone, other than the 5 measly songs what did you get for that money? I can’t see where anything was really gained. Looks like near the same deal as buying air.
Get this, when I pay for something, I expect to have something to show for that money. I see nothing here beyond the 5 songs that makes this any sort of value worth the money. I bet the 5 songs are 128 bit digital and you can’t even hold that in your hand. Not to mention that 128 bit rate is not very good for quality stereos and so does not fit my needs.
May 19th, 2009 at 3:29 am
Reader’s Write, sorry, but you’re way off base here.
- You can choose almost any of the millions of songs as your five free per month (I think there are a handful of songs which are stream-only, but I haven’t found them yet).
- You have access to a celestial jukebox from any internet-connected computer (er, not sure if it works outside the U.S., but okay, great for us Americans). That means at work, unlimited music of my choice. At home, with the laptop downstairs, unlimited music. No ads. No songs I don’t want to listen to. My playlists of *exactly* the songs I want to hear.
- When you pay for something, you expect to have something to show for that money? Do you not pay for cable? Do you not pay to go to a movie theatre? Do you not pay to go to a sporting event? For crying out loud, for the price of taking your family to see ONE movie, you have music for an entire year + 60 MP3s (4+ albums) of your choice. And this is a losing proposition?!
[no, I don't work for Napster, and I actually subscribe to a competing service, Rhapsody. just trying to offer some common sense here!]
May 19th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Adam, this crowds a tough sell on anything but P2P, been here done that!
May 23rd, 2009 at 3:59 am
Heh, yeah, ddbann, d’oh! For my next trick, I’ll go argue about the comparative benefits of different steaks… in the Vegetarian forum
July 30th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
OK… I’m not sure what all the complaining is here. No I don’t download songs using torrents or P2P, I have been purchasing music on Amazon for the last 2 years. However I just recently subscribed to the $5 per month Napster plan. One it’s $5, yeah $5… Two you get 5 DRM songs a month, 5 DRM songs are $5 on Amazon/iTunes… Three you can stream any song for free on your PC, this is really awesome for parties. Basically like having one of those bar jukeboxes at your house. And PLEASE don’t compare this to Internet radio/Last.fm/Pandora … because you can truly stream any song, however many times you want.
July 31st, 2009 at 1:40 pm
thanks bauer, these people are ignorant. I really like how they didnt mention about the 5 downloadable songs that you get when you pay the 5 dollars, and those who like pandora, you cant choose what song you listen to, yeah its great, but you get 5 songs for 5 dollars, and then listen to anything you want for free for a month. It is a great deal, if you dont believe that, you’re an idiot.