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[VictimOfGrief]

So I was thinking, if you burn those Mp3's to a CD and then re-rip them into your own Mp3's, Napster can't do jack shit about that right?

That's about the only work around I can think of for only paying $15 bucks a month for their service.

Also, curious if anyone was using it yet. I'm currently using iTunes and I actually like it quite a bit.

 

[Diablos]

So I was thinking, if you burn those Mp3's to a CD and then re-rip them into your own Mp3's, Napster can't do jack shit about that right?

That's about the only work around I can think of for only paying $15 bucks a month for their service.

Also, curious if anyone was using it yet. I'm currently using iTunes and I actually like it quite a bit.

You can do that, but then transcoding occurs and the song will sound reallllly bad. Especially if you are using headphones or any decent pair of speakers.

 

[8bit]

Are they actually mp3s, or some weirdo DRMed format?

 

[SteveMeister]

With Napster, you can only burn PURCHASED TRACKS to CD. Purchased tracks are 99 cents each, albums start at $9.95. You cannot burn any other tracks on Napster to CD. With the new Napster to Go, the $14.95 allows you to put an unlimited number of tracks onto a portable MP3 player, but you cannot put those tracks on anything else.

This information was gathered from napster.com, by the way. Oh, and they're DRM'd WMA files.

 

[Diablos]

I really don't know. Either way, downloading+burning+ripping to any compressed format will kill the quality. Typically, the quality of these files aren't even close to CD quality to begin with. A lot of iTunes songs are pretty grainy/dithered. I'd expect Napster to be similar?

edit: Yes they are. DRM'd WMA files. Yuck.

 

[VictimOfGrief]

I really don't know. Either way, downloading+burning+ripping to any compressed format will kill the quality. Typically, the quality of these files aren't even close to CD quality to begin with. A lot of iTunes songs are pretty grainy/dithered. I'd expect Napster to be similar?

edit: Yes they are. DRM'd WMA files. Yuck.

Suck, that's pretty gay.

 

[speedpop]

People still use Napster???

 

[sefskillz]

People still use Napster???

My roommate uses it because he got some sweet deal through his school. So we share it, it's pretty decent when it's free.

 

[RevenantKioku]

I nearly let all in my bladder escape when I saw a commercial last night with Napster telling us to "Do the math."

 

[SteveMeister]

The math:

Napster To Go: $14.99 per month, download unlimited number of tracks unlimited number of times to an MP3 player. Cannot use the tracks anywhere else, cannot transfer them, cannot burn them to CD, cannot convert them without sound quality loss.

Napster Light: No monthly charge. Unlimited listening to 30 second music streams (browse). Purchase tracks for 99 cents each or albums starting at $9.95. You can ONLY burn purchased tracks to CD, you cannot burn or copy streaming music.

Napster (standard): $9.95 per month. Unlimited listening to music streams. Purchase tracks for 99 cents each or albums starting at $9.95. You can ONLY burn purchased tracks to CD, you cannot burn or copy streaming music.

You must have a current Napster account to listen to ANY music purchased or streamed from Napster.

Basically, the iTunes Music Store is most like Napster Light. The main difference is that you can't stream entire songs. Also, the music catalog is much larger on iTMS and there are audio books and other content. Plus, of course, Napster music won't play on iPod.

I suppose Napster To Go isn't bad if you don't care about keeping music permanently. You can download tracks to your MP3 player whenever you want and it never costs more than $14.95 per month.