napster
Music
It’s Almost 2010 And CDs Are Not Dead Yet?
7:00AM Jesus Diaz | I’ve started to buy vinyl records again. It’s not because of the sound. It’s the touch and the pretty pictures. Obviously, vinyl is not why CDs are dying. Zoom-zoom in, digital boys and girls. More »
Software
Why We Can’t Have A Napster iPhone/Android/BlackBerry App
6:20AM John Herrman | Napster’s music service is part store, part radio, and attractively cheap. They know it’d be great on the iPhone, so much so that they’ve written an app—but they’re not submitting it. Predictably, it’s the money. More »
Music
Greg Kot: The Music Industry Caused Piracy, iTunes Isn’t The Way Out
11:00AM Dan Nosowitz | Greg Kot, music critic for the Chicago Tribune and others, wrote a book called Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music. In a recent podcast interview, he enumerates the precise downfall of record labels and why iTunes isn’t their saviour. More »
Random Stuff
Is Napster Making An IPhone App?
7:21PM John Herrman | Giz reader and champion Craiglist peruser Andrew F. happened across a job posting from Napster, asking for a software engineer with experience in “Mac/iPhone OS X Development.” Such a posting might not normally be worth getting too excited over—after all, everyone’s making iPhone apps nowadays—but Napster just launched a new, cheap unlimited streaming service last month. Five bucks a month for instant access to seven million songs (plus downloads) is a solid deal as is; throw in an iPhone client and it’d be a great one. [Craigslist—Thanks, Andrew!]
Music
Napster’s New Pitch: Five DRM-Free Songs, Unlimited Streaming, $US5 A Month
8:10PM John Herrman | When Best Buy gobbled up Napster, Adam wondered what they could possibly do to make their expensive new liability relevant again. The answer? Go cheap. Very cheap. More »
Peripherals
Denon’s iPod Docks Add Rhapsody and Napster Support
4:30AM Jesus Diaz | Weird. The new Denon iPod docks are not only pretty, but they also can access some stuff called “Rhapsody” and “Napster.” Don’t quote me on this, but they are some kind of streaming music services. More »
Online
Best Buy Purchases Napster for US$121 Million, Hopes People Remember When Napster Was Cool
12:45AM Adam Frucci | Hey guys, remember when Napster was relevant? You know, when it was the first peer-to-peer program and it changed the internet and music industry forever? Then, later, remember when it was turned into a pay service hoping to piggyback on the popularity of the brand? And everyone just moved on to Kazaa or Limewire or whatever? Well, apparently the Napster name still means something to some people, as Best Buy is purchasing it for a whopping US$121 million. More »
Entertainment
Updated Napster DRM-Free Store <3 iPods
11:20PM Mark Wilson | Napster announced the transition to all DRM-free MP3s several months back, but now their 6 million song catalog is fully up and running. Now compatible with iPods/iPhones, Napster even claims that their inventory is “50% larger than any other MP3 store,” though we’re a little confused on the math since iTunes offers “more than 6 million [songs]” themselves. Most of Napster’s catalog will be available at 256kbps bitrate, and they claim to be the first store to offer 100% MP3-formatted tracks. Anyone gonna give the service (another) go? UPDATE: Ahh, we get it. Largest “MP3 store,” not digital music store. Nice catch, commenters! More »
Entertainment
