Items tagged with Napster
Rhapsody announced plans to purchase Napster from Best Buy. Although the full details of the deal have not been released, we do know that Best Buy will retain a minority stake in Rhapsody. The deal is expected to close on or around November 30 of this year. As a result of the deal, the subscriber bases of the two largest on-demand premium music services will be combined. Rhapsody is co-owned by Real Networks and MTV Networks. Rhapsody to Acquire Napster America's largest on-demand music service to add Napster's subscriber base to extend leadership position SEATTLE, Oct. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Rhapsody, the nation's largest premium on-demand music service, today announced that it has signed an...
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Do you recall a day when the Internet was first referred to as the "Intergalactic Network?" Perhaps you recall a little company called CompuServe? Okay, you're dating yourself now, so be careful. The sad truth is we recall CompuServe all too well and a few other milestones along the way in this interesting infographic sent over to us from MBA Online. Ahh, those dial-up modems chirping away at you upon connecting with that BBS you so loved to frequent. Or maybe you have fond memories of that blazing fast 14.4K modem from U.S. Robotics? Don't let the kids hear you strolling down memory lane like this or you might find yourself labeled an esteemed member of the...
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As the legendary Bob Dylan would attest, the times are a changin' in the music industry. In fact, they've already changed. Ever since the original Napster took the Internet by storm back in 1999, physical record sales have been slipping while music consumption has been growing. The RIAA has put up a vicious fight over the years to stop what it calls rampant online piracy, while artists at large seem to be benefiting from a larger audience and more expensive live shows. Today, a full decade since Napster's birth, things are quite a bit different. The labels have finally learned that DRM simply isn't the way to do business, and even the online megastore that is iTunes has decided to sell music...
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Napster unveiled its latest plan to compete in the subscription music space by offering a $5 per month service that is similar to what Zune users enjoy. Through Napster’s latest offering, you’ll enjoy a combination of on-demand music streaming and five tracks to download and keep each month. At that price, you basically buy five tracks each month (assuming you’re paying $1 per track) and get the subscription service as a bonus. Under the terms of the new offer, users can listen to any track from Napster’s catalog of more than seven million songs as often as they like in CD quality. Users can also listen to more than 60 commercial-free radio stations and more than 1,400 expertly programmed...
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Back in the day, it looked like Napster was going to bust the digital music business wide open. They were sued back to the stone age over copyright infringement, and more or less dropped from sight. Apple leaped into the breach, offering legal but locked music for their iPods through their own online store. Well, zombie Napster is back in a big way. They're now offering the world's largest library of digital music in the MP3 format for just 99 cents a track, or about 10 bucks for an album. And it's all DRM-free. Napster's download store is more than 50% larger than any other MP3 store and boasts not only the largest major label MP3 catalog in the industry, but also the largest library of...
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Don't bother to try this on your iPhone as it's tied to iTunes (naturally), but for other phones, AT&T has announced the Napster Mobile via AT&T Mobile Music service. Starting in mid-November customers will be able to browse 5 millions songs in the Napster catalog and download them directly to their phones.Songs will cost $1.99 each, or $7.49 for five per month. Users who download a song directly to their phones will automatically get an e-mail allowing them to put a second copy on their computers. Customers who have songs through Napster already will be able to transfer them to their phones as well, Hyatt said.AT&T has a previous deal with eMusic.com, but that deal is...
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Napster, now offering legal music via streaming, has decided to move to a complete web-based format. No more software to download, and anyone who can run a browser (probably with Java enabled) should be able to enjoy songs from Napter's library of over 5 million tracks.The question remains whether or not people will be happy to stream vs. just buy songs.“Napster sells a subscription service for $10 to $15 a month where users can stream or download an unlimited number of songs from its 5 million-strong library. But Napster's and other music subscription services have so far lagged behind larger rival iTunes, which uses a more traditional buy-to-own model. Itunes sells songs as permanent...
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