Napster's in it for the money

[amateur]

do u geeks(guys) know that Napster's 38 million
users may have to pay a small fee if they want
to access to MP3 songs ? Napster is out to get
rich ! (aww..) i hate it when this kind of thing
happens... being one of the zillion freeloading
users.

the deal is between Napster and Bertelsmann,
owner of BMG , to turn Napster's free file-
sharing network into a paid subscription
service.

and wat's more , users may have to pay US$4.95
a month if they want unlimited access to songs http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif

------------------
trying to be a computer geek http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/cool.gif

[This message has been edited by amateur (edited 11-15-2000).]

[will729]

I wonder how long it will be before a better free MP3 search engine comes out that everyone will use after napster turns member based

------------------
[This message has been edited by will729 (edited 4-3-1900 in a small wood cabin in texas).]

[ixl]

It's not surprising that Napster is going to start charging. If you think about it, they have expenses, and investors who want a return. Why would anyone run a business for free?
I doubt there will ever be a totally free service, unless they can find some way to force you to watch or listen to ads in exchange for the privilege of using it. It just makes common sense.

------------------
Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.

[herbert]

Napster may seem to be free, but downloading mp3s takes a long time.
That time costs money. The ISPs and phone companies must be reaping it.

Napster may get away with inflicting adverts on users, but if they try to charge people, I reckon that the 38,000,000 users will disappear far more rapidly than they appeared.

Not everyone is "in it for the money". There are better things than money.

What would become of these forums if we were all mercenary?

[ixl]

Well, if you want to set up a Napster-like system for free, go ahead. You'll get lots of customers. But I think you underestimate how much it costs to run a system like that.

------------------
Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.

[amateur]

why did Napster start(free) anyway ?
....if its so costly ...

------------------
by a computer geek wannabe http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/cool.gif

[This message has been edited by amateur (edited 11-17-2000).]

[Son of Zeus]

Actually we're all in it for the money. They (Napster etc) battle to take it off us, we (the consumer) battle to keep them from getting it off us.

But I think u guys have missed a few important facts. Don't have an URL, but I think that u will find, without having to dig very deep, that Napster have no real choice in this matter.

They have just stitched up some deals with the music industry to keep them out of jail. By agreeing to these charges they pay a certain percentage to the major labels to keep them off their back.

So whoever u want to blame I can't really see that Napster are at fault.

Cheers.......Son of Zeus.

[Paleo Pete]

Very good Zeus, I haven't kept up with the Napster issue, since the only time I tried to use it I had no success at all, nothing would connect to the other person, so I got rid of it the next day.

I suspected the fee was related to the lawsuits, and will take a few minutes later to look up a few of the news releases on several sites I know had articles posted not long ago, see if I can find a good link.

Other sources of MP3's are available, if you know where and how to look, but for that, you're on your own... http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

------------------
If you had everything...Where would you put it?

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

[amateur]

i used to go to the mIRC channel : #mp3cable
to download songs . if u've never been there
u would not know how to download songs from
there , u need some kind of code ....
u can check out their website at www.mp3cable.org (http://www.mp3cable.org)
but its under revamping now ...will be back by Dec.
anyway , i would prefer Napster if its free .
its fast and easy ...too bad .



------------------
by a computer geek wannabe :p

[setoguro]

i use to use napster a lot but i found that getting the music i
wanted wasn't so easy and it was very time consuming. now i just
go to the library order a cd bring it home and burn off a copy.
for me it's a lot easer than trying to find all the songs i want
on napster and download pluss it's free.

[ixl]

It may be free, but it's certainly not right, nor fair to the companies that produced the music.
Folks, discussing Napster is certainly fine by me, but please don't share methods for illegally pirating music here. Thanks.

------------------
Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.

[xor_chad]

Hey. My opinon on the matter is this. I dont think the guy who wrote the Napster software had any idea what he was getting into. I remember when it first came out i NEVER used and AND i told others not to because it sucked then. At first there were few uses and most everyone had the EXACT same files. Later I started using Napster again because MANY more ppl started using it and i began to find songs that are out of circulation and such.

Software Piracy has been around for decades. Microsoft would NEVER have taken off it it were not for all the pirated copies distributed. Does it make piracy OK? No, its still theft but our techno-society holds it is allowable/excusable for various reasons. Deep down we all know its wrong but we find so many ways to justify ourselves.

Napster and Co. were SUED! That generally costs money! Are we saying, 'Yeah we love our FREE music and we love your FREE service, we really appreciate it, but DONT expect US to pay for your battle you fought.. FOR US!"? I for one think 5 dollars a month is petty for the service they have given us and continue to offer. Later...

[ixl]

Most people want things for free, and the Internet is especially bad that way.
I've had people writing me complaining about the ads on the site (not many, but some). Of course, they wouldn't want to buy a subscription, or something like the Disk Edition either. The implication clearly then is that I should work full-time on the site for free! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

------------------
Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.

[Paleo Pete]

One ad and someone's complaining? Some people just live to gripe I guess...Maybe the complainers would like to try Juno sometime...

I've noticed the ad that's on the site, and wouldn't think it would be a big deal, it's not obtrusive, and you don't have gaudy ad banners plastered all over the site, so to me it seems much more tastefully done than the majority of the sites I visit.

While I'm here, might as well say I agree with Charles' previous post about offering instructions on how to find free MP3's. That's why I didn't post a link or even a hint as to how in my earlier post, just said that it could be done if you know where to look.



------------------
Soon as I come up with all the answers...they change the questions!!

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

[rUzz]

I agree with Zues we all here for da money. I am glad to see Napster make some dough off their program. They have forced their way into the music industry. They deserve something.

I think it is ironic that all artist that are so against them have actually helped them to make some dough.

I wish I would have thought about it first.

------------------
Stay alert, stay alive!

[zomster]

I have been a Napster user for some time and I love it have loads of MP3s I use it as a Source to find new Bands have found so many new good bands on there and not just underground/un asigned artists ONe Eg. would be Kiss I never really listend to them before and there well known.. D/L them off Napster because well it was free.. found out I really like that band along with many others like it causing me to go out and by the CD.. I even have a burner though I still buy the CDs why? I respect the Artists show my suport and I enjoy having the original copy..

If Napster starts charging for there service I will defently pay for there service long as the price is right.. and I beleave most serious napsters out there would pay for it.. I am sure they will loose alot of users but at least they will be making more money and thoes record companies will be making more as well not as they need it Napster is alrdy helping them sell CDs and promote bands and at what cost? a few people who abuse the service D/L and do nothin but D/L and keep getting the stuff for free.. but is that it self such a bad thing? that person is bound to tell there friends about that new band and so on and they are going to sell CDs some were down that line of friends.

I my self am spending more money cause of napster so this hole napster legal issue is just pissing me off

[Ghel]

"It may be free, but it's certainly not right, nor fair to the companies that produced the music."

I agree that discussing ways to pirate music is wrong but I do want to discuss what is "fair" to the companies that produced the music.

When CD's first came out, they cost around $15-$20. At the time, the cost of a single, blank CD was over $5 wholesale. Today, CD's cost around $15-$20 and the cost of a single blank CD costs about $.40 wholesale. Where did all that extra profit go? For all the recording industries high and noble talk, the artist didn't see a dime of the extra money. Recording companies magically absorbed it.

In reading books by quite a few different bands, I was interested to learn other wonderful practices used by the recording industry. For instance, with many "imported" bands like Pink Floyd, often recording companies would cut songs off of the albums so that they could later release them as singles. This, of course, increased profits as people had to buy additional singles along with new albums. The bands never saw an additional dime from these practices either. Pretty fair, huh?

Since the inception of Napster, CD sales have increased. What the recording industry truly fears is not the loss of revinue, but the loss of control over the industry. They cannot get away with many of these shady practices.

There should probably be some restrictions placed on Napster, like a limit to downloaded songs or the inability to distribute whole CD's, but the distribution technology itself should be allowed to exist.

Hence, I'm all for Napster, both for obtaining obscure music as well as for listening to new bands before spending the money to purchase the whole album. If this somehow "hurts" the recording industry, well too bad. They've been playing their customers for years.

Here is another interesting link on the state of the recording industry -vs- the artist. http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/06/14/love/

[Shi]

just my two cents but i adore Napster! its really hard to find a lot of older songs that are not on CD somewhere. the only way to get it digital is to use someone elses digital copy, continue to wait for the label to release it on CD, or spend a fortune to make your own. most of the songs i have gotten from it, i already have on a cassette tape(couple LP's and 8-tracks too) http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif it is also a good place to hear new bands who are not on a label yet, and have high hopes of making it big in the industry so they can complain about napster(and look-alikes) taking their money....Metallica i guess these bands think they got big all by themselves? with no listeners? my how we forget the days of starving up-and-coming musicians...lol here's a crazy thought. what about "covers" that most all of the bands do? don't they owe the original writer something for performing it too? they probably didn't think about the fact that they themselves "pirate" mainstream music also...heheh
i bet every single rock band since the 70's has at one time played "Stairway To Heaven" on a stage in a hole-in-the-wall nightclub, and forgot to give zep any dinero. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/tongue.gif
anyways thats my 2 1/2 cents, and i think i could dig up another dollar or so on this subject.
BTW, that is what the charge is for...not just BMG but a few others as well want to dip their fingers in the hunneypot...heheh

[This message has been edited by Shi (edited 02-01-2001).]

[VR7DETA]

I have worked in a Flea Market on the weekends for the past year. Last
Sunday morning I noticed a new vendor selling CD's with homemade labels.
When I ask him where he got his music he look at me like I was really stupid and said NAPSTER.At eight bucks a pop he said he could afford to up grade to a cable modem.Now I know why the recording companies are mad at napster.

[Ghel]

I'm not completely up on the law, but charging $ for copywritten material is still illegal (I believe). Of course, I've seen everything from copied movies, to copied CD's, to "used" hub caps, to weapons sold to kids at many flea markets. One guy lamely defended himself by selling "blank" video-casettes that "just-might happen" to have movies on them. Those people should be charged with copywrite infringement, but a file format or a distribution technology can hardly be blamed for the blatent abuse of the few.

[sea69]

I agree w/ Ghel !

Blaming Napster for individual's acts of illegal 'pirating' of copy righted material is similiar to blaming Smith & Wesson for every idiot that is irresponsible w/ one of the firearms they make.

The record co's are not only afraid of loosing $$ (which the artist will never see anyway), they also are afraid of their own accountability. ( If u have Napster READ the opening 1st page to see what this is about.) http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/eek.gif

** and the 'funny' thing is... I have never paid one cent (ever) to Napster, or anything Napster related. I have as a result of Trying new music 1st from Napster, gone and purchased new cd's that I like.

In society today (as in the past) there are people that have no regard for "right and wrong", and these people make life a bit more diff for the rest of us. (IMHO)*

------------------
"Remember u r 'unique'... just like everyone else!"



[This message has been edited by sea69 (edited 02-04-2001).]

[sea69]

**update: now since the decision has come down, I find that there are lots less people online.

------------------
"Remember u r 'unique'... just like everyone else!"