So I see the commercial on the TV; to where it compares Napster to Ipod. Basicaly the commercial says with Napster you can have unlimited songs for $15 a month where as with Ipod you could spend a small fortune.
So I get on Napster, download their F’n software and give them my CC number. So now I figure I’m ready to ejoy butt-loads of music for $15 a month, right? eh, eh, Not only do they want the $15 bucks a month but they also want $1 a song?
WTH gives here?
Is there a better cite out there or did I sign up for the wrong thing?
I think you signed up for the wrong thing. Napster To Go is the one with the free songs when you have a subscription - but I don’t believe those songs are permanent. You’re renting them, not buying them, so if you discontinue your subsciption you lose your songs.
Now, if you go to their music store, then you can buy the songs for 99 cents and they’re permanent. You don’t lose them if you discontinue your subscription.
Napster is a ripoff compared to iTunes/iPod. At least with iTunes, you own the song, but with Napster, you’re just paying for a temporary license–a rental fee, like Neurotik said–and you’re left with nothing at the end.
I think you may have signed up for Napster/Napster-to-go, which is the “$15/mo, unlimited download, lose the songs when you quit paying” service, AND bought a song for $0.99 from Napster light, which is a “pay-per-song, keep forever” service like iTunes.
There is a PC version of iTunes. Napster works with your PC, Napster-to-go works with specified .mp3 players.
(1) You can outright purchase music for $0.99 per song
OR
(2) You can subscribe for a monthly fee for access to almost all of the music Napster has to offer. You can pay $9.99 to fully access and listen to any song. My computer at home is connected to my stereo so I essentially have almost every song I would want on tap at any time. For an additional $5.00 ($14.99…total) you can have “untethered” access that lets you download songs to a Napster-to-Go compatible portable player. These are players that support Windows Media Subscription capability (most probably will in the future).
For people that claim that Napster is a ripoff compared to iTunes, I’m not sure what you mean. You can use Napster as ONLY a storefront like iTunes if you want to.
I LOVE the subscription service. For roughly the price of a new CD each month, I have access to a million+ song library where I can browse and listen to artists I would have never known. And, I can take those songs with me to the gym.
I’m not sure WHY music is a big deal when a service model is applied. It is pretty much like a Netflicks or Blockbuster movie pass that lets you see what you want for a flat fee.
Kudos for Napster for getting a service together that gives you many different options.