Editor’s note: This article originally ran in the Oct. 19 Mirror Monday and was updated for the Oct. 23 print edition.
Cassette tapes replaced vinyl. Digital compact discs replaced cassette tapes. And now, file sharing and Internet downloading will replace CD’s.
As the music industry is feeling the effects of declining record sales, and the RIAA is launching an all-out attack on downloaders, the very company that started the music-downloading craze will launch a new service that will require users to pay for their music.
On October 29, Napster will release Napster 2.0, a subscription service that will allow users to access more than half a million songs. Individual songs can be purchased for 99 cents, and whole CD’s will be available for $9.95.
In addition, Napster will offer a premium service for $9.95 a month that will include, among other things, unlimited streaming and downloading.
Napster first made news when it premiered in 1999, and became increasingly popular on college campuses, thanks to easy access to high-speed Internet connections.
It wasn’t long before the music industry, and more specifically the Recording Industry Association of America, caught wind of this “music piracy” and sued Napster. In 2002, Napster’s run as a free music-sharing program was done for good.
The music industry’s reaction to Napster 2.0 is considerably more favorable.
Cary Sherman, RIAA president, said, “This is another welcome addition to a legal online music marketplace that continues to offer fans innovative and exciting opportunities to access the music they want.”
Some students share Sherman’s sentiment and are in favor of paying to download music.
“I think it’s a really good deal,” said Jay Imhoff, ’05. “I think musicians deserve to get paid. They only make a small profit after they pay dues to the record labels, so I think if we want to appreciate their artform, we should pay for it, like every other artform.”
One concern is the amount of time it will take to download songs from Napster. “I think that paying a small fee for each song is fine, as long as the program is reliable. I don’t want to wait six hours for a two minute song,” said Mike Gallinari, ’05.
In addition to winning RIAA approval, Napster 2.0 has also attracted a multitude of partners for the company, including Gateway, Microsoft, Roxio, Samsung, and Yahoo.
Such partners are interested in reaping the benefits of an all-digital music business. For example, Samsung worked with Napster to create portable audio devices made to use with music downloaded from Napster.
“The Samsung Electronics and Napster partnership enables us to offer a seamless experience from selecting and downloading legal music from Napster to enjoying that music on the Samsung player,” said Samsung’s executive vice-president, Eric Kim.
Napster 2.0 is part of a growing movement to make music downloading legal and inexpensive.
About 6 months ago, Apple unveiled it’s iTunes music store, allowing Mac users to purchase songs to download for 99 cents.
According to Apple, since iTunes premiered, more than 13 million songs have been purchased. Recently, the program was expanded so that Windows users will be able to have the same access to the iTunes service that Mac users already do.
Since last Thursday, more than 1 million Windows users have downloaded the iTunes program, along with more than a million songs, according to an Apple press release.
Apple currently offers its iTunes users about 400,000 songs.
Music downloaded from the iTunes store is transferable to Apple’s digital music player, iPod, which can hold up to 10,000 songs. The iPod is also now available for both Mac and Windows users, for about $299.
Apple and Napster have negotiated deals with the five major industry labels (Warner, Sony, BMG, EMI, Universal) in order to be able to offer songs from the labels’ artists.
However, the temptation of free music file-sharing programs, like Kazaa, remains. Some students prefer to take advantage of such sites.
“I’m still downloading from free networks,” said Lindsay Carothers, ’05.
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