Napster, the infamous file-trading service that helped ignite the peer to peer revolution, has returned in a heavily publicized relaunch as a legitimate music store. After losing a copyright infringement lawsuit in 2001 to the major record labels, the company was on the brink of liquidation before software manufacturer Roxio rescued the Napster name during the bankruptcy proceedings. At the end of 2003, Roxio launched a new version of the PressPlay music store, newly re-branded as Napster 2.0.
Following up on Breakdown's review of the Apple iTunes Music Store, this article examines Napster's newest offering according to the same online music store review guidelines.
Sound Quality: Each track on Napster 2.0 is recorded as a 128 kbps WMA file. WMA is Microsoft's proprietary media format, and the 128 kbps WMA encoding is reported to fall somewhere in between MP3 and AAC in terms of audio quality. This bitrate will sound noticeably inferior to a CD, even on inexpensive headphones, and markedly artificial on a home stereo system. In spite of claims to the contrary by those that are selling low bitrate recordings, the difference is like going back to cassettes from CDs. Score: 4
Fair Use Rights: Nearly every review of Napster 2.0 has a different take on what you actually purchase when downloading a song from the new service. According to the official Terms And Conditions, it appears that each track can be burned a maximum of five times to a CD, transfered (not copied) to another Windows Media enabled computer an unlimited number of times, or copied on to (but not off of) certain portable devices an unlimited number of times . This means that at any one time each song can exist only on one machine, up to 5 CDs, and any portable devices you can copy the song to. If you lose the original copy, you can download a new copy only twice before losing your rights to it forever. Contrasted with a physical CD with no DRM restrictions, this is a very significant limitation. Score: 4
Cross-Platform Compatibility: The Napster 2.0 application (really, just a new version of the PressPlay application), is required to browse and stop on the Napster store. Unfortunately, this applications runs only on Windows XP and Windows 2000. Additionally, Internet Explorer 5.01 and Windows Media Player 9 are required. Mac and Linux are not supported. Copying the music files to a portable player requries owning one that supports WMA (a format that the Apple iPod currently does not support). Score: 4
Usability: All browsing, buying, and burning is done within the Napster 2.0 application, which is rather reminscent of peer to peer file-sharing applications. Searches for a particular song or artist can be performed via a drop down field and a text entry box. Results appear quickly and reliably, though not as well organized as they are inside the iTunes application. Purchasing consists of clicking through a few screens and entering your credit card number. Playlists are implemented effectively, and the user can easily build up a long list of songs to review or stream (with the Premium account). Browsing through recently added items, historical and current Billboard charts, or other member's playlists is a wonderful feature. Score: 8
Price: Similar in base pricing to the iTunes Music Store, each song can be downloaded for $0.99 and full albums can be downloaded for $9.95. The user can also opt to pay a monthly fee of $9.95 to subscribe to "Napster Premium" and gain access to full-song, low bitrate previews (effectively a streaming internet jukebox), popular music charts, community playlists, and a number of internet radio stations. Nominally price competitive with CDs, per-song pricing is the biggest advantage over traditional purchases. Score: 6
Independent Selection: Napster 2.0 currently carries only three out of ten of the representative popular independent music selections queried for. However, as one of Napster's selling points is a large selection, and they are clearly agressively courting both large and small record labels, this could improve with time. Score: 3
Overall Score: Napster 2.0 could be a very viable music store if only the DRM restrictions were relaxed, the quality of the recordings were to be significantly improved, the selection included more independent music, and prices dropped as a result of the inevitable upcoming price-war. Until that time, however, Napster 2.0 probably isn't worth the money. Score: 5
Read the EMusic Review.
Read the Audio Lunchbox Review.
Read the Bleep Review.
Read the Wal-Mart Online Music Store Review.
Read the Apple iTunes Music Store Review.
Read the Breakdown guidelines for this review.