Napster is Back

[chesh]

Hi everyone. I just got an email telling me that napster is back so I downloaded it. It's very much like the iTunes music store except that it seems you have to pay $9.95/month to use it. At least that's what I understand. Here's what Napster says:

Get rediculous amounts of music and customize your listening experience for only $9.95 per month.

CHECK OUT THESE SPECIAL FEATURES:

Stream and download all the full-length tracks you want! Choose from a library of over half a million tracks and growing.

Download tracks on as many as three computers.

Purchase your favorites for only 99¢ per track or buy albums for $9.95. Purchase tracks to burn to a CD and transfer to a portable device easily through the Napster interface.

Interactive, commercial-free radio -- skip forward, jump back and download directly from our exclusive Napster-programmed radio stations. You can also create your own radio station with music customized to your tastes!

Speak your mind! Participate in the Napster community message boards organized by music genre and more.

Now, I will admit that I am nowhere near intelligent so I was wondering if anyone else saw the contradiction in the phrases that I hilighted. It seems that you can dl all the tracks you want for the membership fee, but then you have to pay $0.99 sometimes? Maybe they mean you can download to listen to tracks for free, but you can't keep them, but if you pay $0.99 you can keep them.

I don't know. If someone figures it out, please let me know. Napster seems to have more music than iTunes (at least different music) so I'd almost consider subscribing. Of course, if one must pay the membership fee and pay the $9.95 per album (I like whole albums and not just individual songs), that sucks.

[MulletMan]

I think they mean "You can download al the full-length tracks you want, as long as you pay 99 cents per track"

[Liquor_Riss]

Napsters probably been bought by the RIAA.

[brentech]

No no no.
Ok. It means that if you pay the premium fee of $9.95 USD per month, that you can download all the music you want during that month.

If you are not a premium member....THEN you have to pay the .99 cents per each song, or $9.99 for a CD.

Which...by the way. Is the same as Itunes.
And is what I will use ;)
So You are safe chesh.

[chesh]

I tried clicking on "Download Album" and it brought up a sign-up form for Napster Premium.

Also, isn't that a little dumb? I mean either way, you pay about $10 and one of those $10 means unlimited music compared with just one album. Why not subscribe for $10 and dl 100 albums in one month and quit instead of paying $1000 for those same 100 albums @ $10 per?

Hell, if it really is unlimited albums for about $10, sign me up!

[chesh]

Sorry about the double post but I igured it out. I signed up for a months subscription. I was right in that some albums are free to subscribers and others are not. Some albums are partially for download and the other part is for purchase only (i.e. tracks 1-4, 7, and 9 are available for dl, but 5, 6, 8, 10-15 you have to buy). Some of the albums they have do not have complete track listings. For example, their album U2: Best B Sides has only one track listed although there are way more than that. This might be okay, but you never know if youre getting a whole album or an incomplete one.

If you ask me, it's a joke. Unless you want to download single songs (most of which are 'buy only'), the subscription is a waste of time and money. Napster has way more music than iTunes, but not as many complete albums. It cost me $9.95 to find this out, but I guess it was worth it.

[brentech]

Yeah.
I have a proble with their site. Being that it doesn't really give any information - which is pretty shitty.

But when you download the songs..does it come in mp3 format..or wma?
I heard from someone that it was kinda crappy wma files.. :?

[chesh]

.wma

What a bunch of bitches.

[brentech]

yeah that's gay. i'll stick to other services

[MulletMan]

How about you move to Canada and download music free to your heart's content! :P

[Shamus]

.wma? isn't that like a windows media player ghetto format?

[chesh]

Yeah, .wma is like the brown crap you find under your fingernails. MulletMan, I stopped downloading music a few months ago. I've been brainwashed into thinking that downloading music hurts the musicians somehow. It's an ethics call, not a "law abiding citizen" one.

[MulletMan]

Yeah, it's cool if you stop downloading music because you want to help the musicians. But truthfully, most musicians benefit from mp3 sharing. Granted, your top musicians like Britney and Metallica lose money-- and because they make the most money in the industry, the recording companies also lose money-- but who cares about that? It's the people who actually make real music who benefit from music sharing communities, not the people who play the music that will make them the most money.

Basically what I'm saying is, the little guys benefit, while the big musicians lose money. The big recording companies lose money, the little ones make money.

[Liquor_Riss]

:'(
Am I the only one who likes Windows Media Player?

[Shamus]

Are you saying Metallica doesn't make real music?

[Gazor]

heh , yeah most of the underground bands get publicity from sharing mp3s

[chesh]

Are you saying Metallica doesn't make real music?

Face it, they stopped making real music when they released the black album.

[chrisv]

Is that really what they wrote? If so, they can't spell. It is ridiculous, not rediculous.