Tuesday, May 20, 2008

On another Napster note

Napster have announced they are going to start doing DRM free (MP3) downloads [BBC.co.uk]. The article seems to imply this could make Napster's own proposition worse. Presumably they mean its DRM based "to go" service which allows you to play streams on portable devices without buying the tracks, will have to compete with the mp3 download option. I currently use the cheaper streaming only Napster service - and having MP3 downloads will probably increase my spend with them - as I don't currently download albums from them because the DRM'd files don't work on all my portable devices. (PSP/phones etc) (Though as of today I can't see an mp3 option in the Napster client - it still seems to download as wma..)
Also if Napster don't offer it - others will - so then they'll miss the boat completely. Better to be an early adopter of a new system that undermines your own propositions - than to be out of the game one would think?

3 comments:

Stephan said...

It's not Napster-To-Go (which is still DRMed), it's a separate service called Napster Light.

Not that I can get the sodding thing working... Which is really annoying, as a catalogue of 6 million DRM free tracks would be a real selling point to me.

DeathOwl said...

Eh? I know Napster to Go is still DRM'd! I meant that Napster to Go was presumably the service the BBC article writer thought would be worse following the new service release. I've tweaked my wording to make that clearer.

Are you sure the new service is live - I thought Napster Light was the old 79p wma format download service? I can't find a new option in my current client to download tracks in mp3 format..

DeathOwl said...

Ah Napster's internal forums seem to be implying that it is only the US store offering this at the moment... humpf!