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Digital music service Napster LLC on Thursday announced the release of Napster To Go, a new Windows-compatible portable digital music subscription service that lets user move an unlimited number of songs from Napster to compatible MP3 players for a US$14.95 monthly fee. A $30 million marketing campaign kicks off Sunday during this year's Super Bowl, and is aimed squarely at Apple's iTunes Music Store. more
Napster counters iTunes with new To Go service
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#2
Piper_13 
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Posted 03 February 2005 - 05:56 AM
Can someone say: Napster is getting desperate?? /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Sure it will work on .WMA players, but as long as the iPod dominated the portible music player market, I don't see how this promotion will affect the iTMS sales...
Sure it will work on .WMA players, but as long as the iPod dominated the portible music player market, I don't see how this promotion will affect the iTMS sales...
#3
Giant840
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Posted 03 February 2005 - 06:01 AM
Yeah, Napster wreaks of being desperate.
I remember reading a little while back about choice, and how Apple is forcing people to make a choice...
But the more that I read about Napster and how they're excluding the entire Macintosh market from their web service; I wonder what kind of choice they are really offering?
Atleast iTunes and iPods are cross platform compatible, so they are offering a lot more choice then Napster.
Well, either way, Napster is about to die and they know it. They lost their spot in the digital download market, so Apple has this in the bag.
Dave.
I remember reading a little while back about choice, and how Apple is forcing people to make a choice...
But the more that I read about Napster and how they're excluding the entire Macintosh market from their web service; I wonder what kind of choice they are really offering?
Atleast iTunes and iPods are cross platform compatible, so they are offering a lot more choice then Napster.
Well, either way, Napster is about to die and they know it. They lost their spot in the digital download market, so Apple has this in the bag.
Dave.
#4
mac_the_knife
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Posted 03 February 2005 - 06:02 AM
[indent]In reply to:
"Napster To Go provides infinitely greater value and is much more exciting than the iTunes pay-per-download model," said Chris Gorog, Napster's chairman and CEO, in a statement.
[/indent]
Where have we heard that before????
(And visions of Rhapsody and Rob Glaser dance in their heads...fat lotta good the subscription model is doing Real)
Oh, did anyone check out that link to Napster to go?? Down at the bottom, in small print...
[indent]In reply to:
*It is necessary to maintain a Napster subscription in order to continue access to songs downloaded through the Napster service.
[/indent]
Hmm... more of the same... take your music anywhere you want, until you stop paying...
"Napster To Go provides infinitely greater value and is much more exciting than the iTunes pay-per-download model," said Chris Gorog, Napster's chairman and CEO, in a statement.
[/indent]
Where have we heard that before????
(And visions of Rhapsody and Rob Glaser dance in their heads...fat lotta good the subscription model is doing Real)
Oh, did anyone check out that link to Napster to go?? Down at the bottom, in small print...
[indent]In reply to:
*It is necessary to maintain a Napster subscription in order to continue access to songs downloaded through the Napster service.
[/indent]
Hmm... more of the same... take your music anywhere you want, until you stop paying...
#5
Uncle_Deercamp
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Posted 03 February 2005 - 06:07 AM
"Infinitly" better?
Wow. Quite a statement.
Maybe he should run statements like that by his lawyer first.
Wow. Quite a statement.
Maybe he should run statements like that by his lawyer first.
#8
jmincey
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Posted 03 February 2005 - 06:28 AM
All this talk (in the foregoing posts) about how Napster is getting "desperate" and how its claims are things we have all heard before is language I would expect to hear in the stands prior to a football game. It's sounds more like cheerleading for the "home team" than commentary on developments in a sector of an industry.
This is not about "desperate." This is about developing strategies to win new customers under an economic model that allows profitability. I have never been a proponent of the subscription approach but this move by Napster may be a whole new ball game, (to use an ironic metaphor). If this article (and my interpretation) is correct, one can subscribe for a time to Napster and have unlimited downloads to a digital player. Imagine that.
If it's not unlike an "all you can eat" model, then people could subscribe for a finite period of time, download furiously, and then cancel the service for a while, (assuming no minimum contract). In effect, this would then be a de facto purchase model with the price per song subject to an "infinite decrease" depending on the number of downloads a user initiates.
Now if this is too good to be true and not the case, and if downloaded files have a shelf life or they self destruct after a certain number of plays, then why is this news exactly? I thought this was the whole point of a subscription service, that the number of songs was unrestricted, provided the subscription continued. If those conditions are still in place here, what's new about it then?
This is not about "desperate." This is about developing strategies to win new customers under an economic model that allows profitability. I have never been a proponent of the subscription approach but this move by Napster may be a whole new ball game, (to use an ironic metaphor). If this article (and my interpretation) is correct, one can subscribe for a time to Napster and have unlimited downloads to a digital player. Imagine that.
If it's not unlike an "all you can eat" model, then people could subscribe for a finite period of time, download furiously, and then cancel the service for a while, (assuming no minimum contract). In effect, this would then be a de facto purchase model with the price per song subject to an "infinite decrease" depending on the number of downloads a user initiates.
Now if this is too good to be true and not the case, and if downloaded files have a shelf life or they self destruct after a certain number of plays, then why is this news exactly? I thought this was the whole point of a subscription service, that the number of songs was unrestricted, provided the subscription continued. If those conditions are still in place here, what's new about it then?
#9
ibeetle
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Posted 03 February 2005 - 06:31 AM
Question:
Does one have to subscribe to the Napster basic service AND this Napster-togo service?
If that is true that means a user will have to pay out $24.00. $9.95 (basic servce) + $14.95 (togo service)
I notice on the Napster website the priceing and music useage information in real vague.
Does one have to subscribe to the Napster basic service AND this Napster-togo service?
If that is true that means a user will have to pay out $24.00. $9.95 (basic servce) + $14.95 (togo service)
I notice on the Napster website the priceing and music useage information in real vague.
#10
Peter Cohen
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Posted 03 February 2005 - 06:32 AM
[indent]In reply to:
Once downloaded, do these files have a shelf life or do they self destruct after a certain number of plays?
[/indent]
The "shelf life" is tied to your subscription -- as long as your subscription is active, you can play them. Once your subscription is inactive, you can't play them anymore.
Once downloaded, do these files have a shelf life or do they self destruct after a certain number of plays?
[/indent]
The "shelf life" is tied to your subscription -- as long as your subscription is active, you can play them. Once your subscription is inactive, you can't play them anymore.
#11
windowschmindows
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Posted 03 February 2005 - 06:37 AM
WARNING: The song "Macarena" by Los Del Rios will self-destruct in T-10 days...9 days...
#12
theduffsronme
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Posted 03 February 2005 - 06:38 AM
As soon as you stop paying, your music disappears. You could download a thousand songs and subscribe for five years, but miss one payment and boom, your music is gone.
Kids and teenagers listen to a million songs at once and their tastes change by the week. This is obviously aimed at them.
It might work. But I doubt it.
Kids and teenagers listen to a million songs at once and their tastes change by the week. This is obviously aimed at them.
It might work. But I doubt it.
#13
jmincey
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Posted 03 February 2005 - 06:40 AM
"The "shelf life" is tied to your subscription -- as long as your subscription is active, you can play them. Once your subscription is inactive, you can't play them anymore."
Then I have two questions for you, Peter, (not that you should be an expert on Napster): First, how then does this represent anything new? Has this not always been the case under the subscription business model, that for a certain monthly fee users could have unlimited access to a music library -- but only so long as the subscription is active? Second, how do the songs downloaded to the digital player "know" when the subscription has elapsed or been cancelled? How can Napster enforce this?
Then I have two questions for you, Peter, (not that you should be an expert on Napster): First, how then does this represent anything new? Has this not always been the case under the subscription business model, that for a certain monthly fee users could have unlimited access to a music library -- but only so long as the subscription is active? Second, how do the songs downloaded to the digital player "know" when the subscription has elapsed or been cancelled? How can Napster enforce this?
#14
TheBum
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Posted 03 February 2005 - 06:41 AM
[indent]In reply to:
The "shelf life" is tied to your subscription -- as long as your subscription is active, you can play them. Once your subscription is inactive, you can't play them anymore.
[/indent]
If that's true, it would mean that a time limit would be embedded in the WMA file, which also means that you'd have to occasionally resync your player to keep playing the same songs. That seems rather difficult to enforce unless they're only supporting players with built-in clocks that are only settable from a computer.
The "shelf life" is tied to your subscription -- as long as your subscription is active, you can play them. Once your subscription is inactive, you can't play them anymore.
[/indent]
If that's true, it would mean that a time limit would be embedded in the WMA file, which also means that you'd have to occasionally resync your player to keep playing the same songs. That seems rather difficult to enforce unless they're only supporting players with built-in clocks that are only settable from a computer.
