Napster: A Review of the Napster Music Service

The first incarnation of Napster was an illegal file sharing network that was eventually shutdown in 2001. It was the first P2P network and has become a legendary icon in today’s P2P circles. Today, Napster 2 is a legal digital music service that has over 830,000 subscribers.

Read the full Napster review to see what this iconic digital music service has to offer.

Pros:

• Unlimited song downloads.
• Over 5 million songs.
• over 80 radio stations.

Cons:

• If you cancel your membership, the music files on your computer no longer work.
• Limited number of compatible music players.

Napster: Music Service Features

Free Trial: Napster offers a 7-day free trial so you can review their digital music service before you take the plunge. Once the trial is over, you pay a monthly subscription until you decide to cancel.

Subscription Plans:
*Please note* - the two subscription plans that Napster offers, only allow you to keep listening to the digital music you have downloaded if you continue to subscribe. When you download a song, you are only ‘renting’ it for your subscription period; if you stop your payments, the music stops too. To permanently own the music you like, purchase it using Napster's a la carte music service - Napster Light.

• Napster ($9.95/month): This subscription tier is ideal if you want to listen to digital music on your computer and don’t need the option of transferring it to a portable music player. You get the freedom to download an unlimited number of songs - making it ideal for music discovery. The advantage of showcasing a song in its entirety is you get a better idea of whether you would want to purchase it using ‘Napster Light’.
• Napster to Go ($14.95/month): You get the same level of service as the standard ‘Napster’ subscription tier, but with the added bonus of 'music to go'. Once you have downloaded the tracks you want, you can then transfer your digital music files to a compatible music player. There are no restrictions on the number of songs that you can transfer to your portable music player so you can keep refreshing your device with as many songs as you wish.

Napster Light (99 cents per song/$9.95 per album): If you don’t want to be tied down to a subscription service, but want to buy your music outright, then Napster Light is the answer. The ‘light’ version is Napster’s nickname for their a la carte click-and-buy service.

Free Napster: Napster’s free streaming service offers over 3 million songs to choose from that you can play in full. There are restrictions in place to stop copyright infringement; songs can only be played 3 times and the music files are of a low quality (32Kbps). This service is only available in the United States at present.

Website: The online experience at Napster.com is a pleasant one, the well laid out tabbed menu at the top of the screen gives the user easy access to the ‘guts’ of the web site.

Customer Service: A set of documents, including FAQs that cover popular questions are available. If you need to find out anything specific then you can always shoot an e-mail to their 24/7 support.

File Formats

File Formats: Napster uses the WMA format to deliver music. These WMA files have a layer of protection using Microsoft’s WMDRM digital rights management system. iPod users should be aware at this point that the WMA format is not compatible with their equipment and so Napster isn’t a suitable source for your music.

Audio Bitstream Rates:

• All downloaded files are WMA files that are encoded at 192Kbps.

Software

Napster 4.0: The new Napster 4.0 client is a significant leap from version 3.0. Up until the current version, the Napster software was a PC only application. Now, the software is a browser-based client that offers non-pc users the chance to use their music service for the very first time. The new version sports an intuitive interface that is easy to use. A neat feature of the new version is automatic recommendations based on the current track that is being played.

Conclusion

Is it right for you?
The subscription model that Napster operates is the perfect service for people who love discovering new music and don’t want to permanently own the music they download. In contrast, those of you who would rather purchase their music to keep, may want to look at other options such as iTunes, AmazonMP3, Rhapsody, eMusic etc.