http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/ Engadget Comments for Napster To Go launches http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/
If and when you stop paying, how does the music on your portable device know that the license is up?

I still won't use it, phuck 'em.

-Dennis-]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/
Seems like a rip-off to me.

Maybe I haven't been paying close enough attention, but when did we "turn the corner" and start renting music instead of buying it?

Sorry, I will stick with buying the music I want to listen to on CDs where I can use my MP3s anywhere and anytime I want.
]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/I don't know how portable it will make it though.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/
but i think if you want to burn any of the tracks to CD, you have to pay $.99 per track.

]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/
"Napster automatically renews your rights to all of your Downloads at the beginning of each Subscription Month (as defined below) so long as your subscription remains current. This means that in order to play any Download after the end of a Subscription Month, you must log on to the Service so that Napster can renew your rights for those Tracks. The Client will count the number of times that you play a Download, including while you are offline, for royalty accounting and analysis purposes.

In addition, if you register for the "Napster To Go" tier, you will be able to transfer your Downloads an unlimited amount of times to up to a maximum of three (3) such compatible portable devices for as long as your "Napster To Go" membership is current. For royalty accounting and analysis purposes, Napster will track the Downloads that you so transfer and the number of times that you play Downloads on such devices. Napster also automatically renews your rights to any Downloads stored on your portable devices at the beginning of each Subscription Month. Thus, in order to continue to play such Downloads on that portable device, you will need to dock your portable device (i.e., connect to the PC) and log onto Napster at the beginning of each Subscription Month.

If you have Tracks that were pre-loaded to your personal computer, portable device, CD or DVD, you may access and play these Tracks as Downloads only after you have registered for a tier of the Subscription Service. You may not otherwise access or play these Tracks and you agree not to attempt to do so."

sounds like a winner! in addition... they charge $0.99 to burn a track to disc. or $0.99 per to keep a track past the subscription lapsing.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/
the devices have a clock inside, so they will know when the month is over, if the license is not renewed by then all your music is fubar......
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"If you have Tracks that were pre-loaded to your personal computer, portable device, CD or DVD, you may access and play these Tracks as Downloads only after you have registered for a tier of the Subscription Service. You may not otherwise access or play these Tracks and you agree not to attempt to do so."]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/
I wouldn't touch this with a barge pole.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/
For the cost of ONE cd a month I can fill up two 20gig players with any music I and my significant other want. Not to mention that with that one subscription I can use napster on the home computer and the machine at work. For $15 a month? Heck yeah.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/
This is strickly for the "Rent-A-Tire" demographic. I don't mind renting $15.00 DVD's, but not .99 cent songs.....nonsense, mmmkay!
]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/
As their ads will say during the Super Bowl... "Do The Math". Apple makes a big deal about the iPod storing 10,000 tracks... yet to fill it up via iTunes would cost $9,900. With Napster To Go you can fill up your device with 10,000 tracks for $15/month. You could pay that fee every month for the next 55 years before spending $9,900.

And you can put a new batch of 10,000 tracks on your device at any time without paying anything more...

To try to argue that this is somehow not a "good deal" is just silly.

]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/
"I don't mind renting $15.00 DVD's, but not .99 cent songs.....nonsense, mmmkay!"

So you don't mind renting $15.00 (realistically $20) DVDs at $3 or $4 per rental. That's about 1/5 the cost of the full purchase price.

But you view renting as many $.99 songs as you like for $15/month as "nonsense"? You can stuff a 10 gigabyte player with 2500 different songs every day of the month and it comes out to less than $.01 per song.

You can use up to 3 portable devices and two or three computers (including laptops in offline mode).

Doesn't seem like "nonsense" to me. In fact, as soon as some of the windows audio players catch up to the iPod in usability and the marketing picks up on Napster's side of things Apple would be foolish, even suicidal, not to offer an iTunes subscription service.

]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/
Actually I use the "all you can eat" DVD rental for $15.00 a month. Comes out to $1 per DVD.

How many times do you plan on listening to that "one" song, when you get 2500 a month? For me, there is not enough quality music out there to justify $15 a month. I'd rather buy.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/
WMA has about 6-7 marketshare in HD players..

So.. we're not talking about 10,000 anything...

Let's talk about WMA's last, and dying, stronghold...

The el cheapo market: flash

So flash players that have about 256-512 MB...

About 150 songs?

The value proposition gets worse as we get closer and closer to reality.

People want iPods.. after they pick up an iPod, they discover.. Oooh cool..iTunes is pretty nice.. so I can make playlists etc.. and then they read in the manual about about iTMS.. Wow.. that's a good price, 10 bucks for an album is better than my brick and mortar store...

Renting music doesn't come into the equation.. It starts with the iPod..]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/
I thought it was nifty to be able to access the entire catalog, but what I found was that once I downloaded everything in which I had an interest, the idea of continuing to pay a monthly fee to keep the files available got annoying. Their idea is that you'd buy anything you really want to keep.

I found the service itself (at least in the form of the Media Player plugin) was slow. When you download a file, the DRM specifies an expiration date for the file, so you can play it for 10 days or so. Whenever I connected to the service, it would first update the licenses of all downloaded tracks (this could take a while). Once the service is cancelled, the files expire and become unplayable. These limitations also exist when you send the files to a player. If you don't connect the player to Media Player and refresh the licenses, the tracks become disabled on the player.

The thing that bugged me is that I'm not sure how you would refresh the licenses on the player, other than to re-load the tracks to it. This could take quite a while if you have a lot of tracks, which is of course the whole point. In my case it was worse, as the iRiver H320's interface to Media Player, needed to handle DRM'd files, is only USB 1.1. The USB 2.0 interface can be used to move files yourself, but doesn't support the Media Player synch function.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/
Renting music is stupid plain and simple. The marketing idea plays to people's greed. I can download a million songs, big fucking deal! Since when are there a million songs worth listening to? I'll buy my music and so will most of the world. .99 isn't a bad deal for a song.

The super-size crowd might be tempted but they will get sick of paying 15.00 every month.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/
It is an amazing thing to browse, download to the device and just not worry about it.

I think ownership is overrated for some applications of listening to music. I also just downloaded a few of their Napster To Go Playlists (old skool hip hop). I'll put that away after awhile, but to grab it without issue is AWESOME.

I think y'all are overanalyzing the value proposition. Its just cool to grab what you want and not worry about it. All that music! Seriously.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/$9.99 /month.

I can listen all music I want. it's so amazing, wonder around the music and find new stuff for a low fee like that.

then, I can listen them on line or download on my PC (not the just 30 sec, ALL length!)

I can't put on my mp3 device, of course,
but I can listen to at home.

or with replay music..... (shhh, top secret)]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/
What if iTunes did the subscription model?

10 million iPod users x $180 = $1.8 billion per year! Not really reasonable to expect all of those users to subscribe so let's do 50% of the iPod users at only $10 a month. That's still $500 million per year! Twice as much as ALL of the songs ever sold through iTunes. I'm not sure who the CFO for Apple is but I wouldn't think convincing Steve Jobs of adopting the subscription model will be a tough sell. $.99 a song probably won't go away for those that must own their music but with an average of just 25 songs purchased per user through iTunes, that's not a big win. Apple can capitalize the market now through its marketshare and branding. Waiting until the wma competitors catch up might be a big mistake.

As for the iApple fanboys who dismiss the "renting" model, they'll all come around as soon as Steve decides to repackage the koolaid.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/
What if iTunes did the subscription model?

10 million iPod users x $180 = $1.8 billion per year! Not really reasonable to expect all of those users to subscribe so let's do 50% of the iPod users at only $10 a month. That's still $500 million per year! Twice as much as ALL of the songs ever sold through iTunes. I'm not sure who the CFO for Apple is but I wouldn't think convincing Steve Jobs of adopting the subscription model will be a tough sell. $.99 a song probably won't go away for those that must own their music but with an average of just 25 songs purchased per user through iTunes, that's not a big win. Apple can capitalize the market now through its marketshare and branding. Waiting until the wma competitors catch up might be a big mistake.

As for the iApple fanboys who dismiss the "renting" model, they'll all come around as soon as Steve decides to repackage the koolaid.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/
Certain newer WMA players support Microsoft's Janus initiative (tied to Windows Media Player 10). These players contain an internal clock. When your player connects to your computer it syncs with the DRM on it to get the correct date. (No, rolling your clock back won't work, they're a bit smarter than that).

When you download a license for DRM protected content the license contains a number of flags saying what can be done with the file. One flag says it can be played for X days, or burned to a CD, or transfered to a standard WMA device, or transferred with an expiration date to a Janus device.

This functionality has existed for awhile now (since WMP 10 released).

As for the business model behind it, to some of you $15/month is a lot of money. Other people spend that much per day on Starbucks.

People routinely pay $30 a month for unlimited television viewing, or pay $10 a month for satellite radio. So if you travel everywhere with your music player, $15/month for unlimited music isn't that bad of a deal.

I'm guessing most of the people complaining about the $15/month are most likely not paying .99 per track either and just grab mp3s.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Here, I can have 10cds for 3 weeks and 4 dvd for a week for free

but,
if sharing is bad, also the library are illegal.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/04/napster_go_away/

Enough said....
]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Divx worked in that you bought the disk for 4.95 and watched it once or twice free of charge. Any other viewings cost 2.95 (your DVD/Divx player had a built in modem). People tossed that to the side quickly. Why pay for something I already owned?
Same principle with Napster. It's a mother-may-I mentality to play this music.
]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/03/napster-to-go-launches/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM