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Napster opens the world's largest DRM-free MP3 store

20 May 2008 8:07 by Matti "Siggy" V�h�kainu | 7 comments

Napster has opened their own music store to compete with Amazon and Apple. Their music store is said to boast more than 6 million songs, more than Amazon or Apple's iTunes. All files are downloadable in MP3 format and are DRM-free, which makes them compatible with most of the music players, including Apple iPod and iPhone.

Changing directions from the previous all-you-can-eat subscription, the company hopes that it will grow interest amongst the customers who want to transfer their favorite songs to portable media players. Napster's service has an edge against iTunes with DRM-free files and larger catalog, but analysts don't see it topping iTunes mainly because of Apple's strong integration of iTunes into their PMPs.

The selection of 6 million songs includes music from all major and thousands of indie labels. Most of the songs will cost 99 cents and albums start from $9,95.

Chris Gorog, Napster chief executive still believes that their all-you-can-eat plan will eventually win over the customers. "We believe ultimately that consumers will be moving to an unlimited music model," he said.

Permalink to this article | Topics: MP3 & Digital Audio Online music services

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Discuss this article!
tgok (Newbie) 20 May 2008 13:48
I don't understand why companies don't realize that the only reason why people use itunes music store so much is because when they plug in their ipod it's all right there automatically. Any idiot can use their store with no problems. Add that to the fact that buying music from the itunes store automatically puts it in your itunes library, and you've erased another tiny obstacle for the average idiot and/or lazy guy who would have otherwise grabbed the music for free somewhere else. [ + quote]
iluvendo (AfterDawn Addict) 20 May 2008 20:53
Average idiot/ and or lazy guy. Unfortunately this sums up the public quite well. If it wasnt for bad luck, Id have no luck! "The flimsier the product,the higher the price" Ferengi 82nd rule of aquisition [ + quote]
7thsinger (Senior Member) 20 May 2008 21:55
I'll just watch from the sidelines, see how it goes. DRM free is certainly a big plus. [ + quote]
sssharp (Junior Member) 20 May 2008 22:37
Amazon is drm free with much cheaper prices. Example 3 Doors Down newest .99 cents for the album, others I looked at starting at 6.99 for entire album. [ + quote]
jetyi83 (Member) 23 May 2008 13:06
*Originally posted by tgok:* I don't understand why companies don't realize that the only reason why people use itunes music store so much is because when they plug in their ipod it's all right there automatically. Any idiot can use their store with no problems. Add that to the fact that buying music from the itunes store automatically puts it in your itunes library, and you've erased another tiny obstacle for the average idiot and/or lazy guy who would have otherwise grabbed the music for free somewhere else. that is why i never will buy an ipod, i absolutely hate itunes. terrible program, and even worse store. someone needs to develop a media library program that just dominates and takes over. When people finally get mp3 players that dont suck, they can just drag files off a hard drive onto the removable device. they should joint with google, and have google produce a media library software. [ + quote]
givenlee (Newbie) 10 June 2008 3:33
Though there are some programs like Noteburner, Notecable and soundtaxi that can remove DRM protection, DRM-free mp3 songs will be much more convenient... It's a good news... [ + quote]
FredBun (Senior Member) 11 June 2008 23:06
Is this napster service on any particular site? [ + quote]