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May 20, 2008

music

The download days of summer: Napster reinvents itself, MP3 style

Posted May. 20, ’08, 8:06 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Music

Napster playerSit right back, kiddies, and I’ll spin for you a wondrous tale from the heady days of 1999. An era where you could get pretty much any song your heart desired, just by using a program called Napster, whipped up by Northeastern University student Shawn Fanning. Napster, of course, soon caught the ire of the RIAA and was shut down, then later acquired by Roxio, which used the name to launch a legitimate online music service.

Now Napster is reinventing itself once again, by providing downloads in MP3 format, which means—you guessed it—DRM-free. The big reason for doing so, of course, is that Napster finally gets to pimp iPod-compatibility. I decided to give it a try to see how the new service matches up to Amazon and iTunes. Hit the jump to hear my epic story of delving into the depths of Napster’s new download service.

The first obstacle I ran into was that the Napster site doesn’t exactly love Safari, and recommended I switched to Firefox. That problem remedied, I clicked on the prominent “Get MP3s” button on the front page, which launched me into Napster’s web interface. Confronted by a list of popular albums and tracks, I decided to check out the big “MP3 Downloads Available” banner, which took me to Napster’s Help. Believe it or not, the instructions for “Buy MP3s on the Web as a New Visitor for the First Time” are nine steps long.

“Okay,” I figured, “I’m a smart guy, I can do this.” So I ran a search for a track I wanted to buy—AC/DC’s “Back in Black”, though I think only covers are available—and came up with a list of results. For each track listed, you can hit buttons marked “:30” to hear a preview (a slow preview, as it has to load Napster’s flashy player interface—in a pop-up, no less—and then buffer) or hit “MP3” to buy the song. Doing that’ll prompt you to sign up for a Napster account—in a pop-up again (annoying, since you can’t tell by default whether or not the window is secure without turning on the location bar).

Now, maybe I’ve gotten a little blithe about spending my money, but I didn’t actually realize until I’d bought a couple of tracks that the price is listed nowhere until you actually click the “MP3” button next to a track. Since tracks sell for $0.99 that’s not too big a deal, but it’s a little irritating to have to click an extra button just to double check. Albums, meanwhile, seem to go mostly for $9.95; it’s also worth noting that, like iTunes and Amazon, some tracks are available only as part of an album.

With all my billing info entered, I confirmed my purchase by clicking “Buy MP3”, which takes me to a “Track Purchase History” page, where I can hit “download” for the tracks I want to grab (once I’ve downloaded a track, the “Download” button changes into text reading “Downloaded,” so if you were hoping to be able to redownload your music, don’t hold your breath). Firefox will let you automatically open the track in iTunes once they’re downloaded; however, note that the tracks you download may be in either 128kbps or 256kbps MP3 format. Napster says “most” of the tracks are available in 256kbps, but of the two that I downloaded, one was 256kbps and the other was 128kbps. To sum up: your bit-ratage may vary.

In order to download MP3s, you’ll have to sign up for a “Napster Light” account, as I did. That means that you only get charged for downloading MP3s (you can upgrade to a $12.95/month subscription account which gives you unlimited access to songs in your browser or a $14.95/month Napster-to-Go account, which lets you load your music on your portable player, unless it’s a Zune or an iPod). But even if you subscribe, MP3 downloads will cost you extra, though subscribers can buy “MP3 Track Packs,” which essentially allow you to buy more tracks at lower prices.

Once you’ve signed up for an account, buying MP3s is somewhat more simple: click on the “MP3” button next to any song, confirm your purchase, and then click the “Download” button in your Track Purchase History. It’s certainly got nothing on the simplicity of the iTunes Store, or even Amazon’s MP3 store, but I can say that it works.

At the end of the day, I’m not sure that Napster will be my go-to store, necessitating as it does at present that I open an entirely separate browser; iTunes and Amazon MP3 both trump it in terms of convenience. But if you’re determined to find another source for DRM-free, iPod-compatible music, and you don’t mind using Firefox to browse the store, then Napster may fit the bill.


2 Comments

Tony Di Giacomo said:

Seems like a lot of work, compared to iTunes. Even Amazon is easier. I visited the website and there is no information on bit rates. This is a deal breaker for me, I want to know what I'm buying. As far as the music industry goes, I have to ask this question again: How is it legal that they are shutting out Apple with non DRM files?? iTunes is by far the best interface to buy music, Apple is also set up to deliver lossless files if they want to (if I can download hi-def movies for the Apple TV, why not bigger music files?)

May 20, 2008 9:19 AM
Dan Moren Author Profile Page said:

@Tony: Agreed: I had to dig around a little bit to find the bit rate info (most at 256kbps, with some tracks at 128kbps). In terms of legality, I'm not sure the records companies are doing anything illegal: unethical? Perhaps. Immoral? Well, that's a judgment call, but I'd say probably. Irritating: heck yeah.

May 20, 2008 9:34 AM

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