Napster is back. But no, it’s not the same service that
gave users free-for-all access to pop songs in the days of the
Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears. It is now a legal downloading
service that hopes to give Apple’s iTunes a little
competition.
The timing could not be riper. With the accelerating number of
lawsuits against individuals illegally sharing files on peer-
to-peer networks in the last year, Apple’s iTunes has already
proven that file sharers are willing to pay for the convenience of
downloading music from home. Considering iTunes’ success of
over 13 million MP3 sales and the release of a Windows-compatible
version of the same services, Napster has decided to follow in
their footsteps.
“The online music marketplace is coming together, and
Napster is seen as an innovator in the music industry,”
Napster Vice President of Communications Seth Oster said.
The launch party for Napster 2.0 on October 29 at the House of
Blues brought artists Ludacris, Interpol and Dashboard Confessional
to West Hollywood to give performances in support of the new
service.
Napster 2.0, like competitors iTunes and Musicmatch, allows
users to download songs for 99 cents each, or the whole album for
just under $10. Napster, however, boasts the largest catalogue of
500,000 songs, with Apple trailing just behind at 400,000 and
Musicmatch offering a meager 240,000. In addition, Napster offers
the opportunity to subscribe to the service for $9.95 per
month.
The Recording Industry Association of America’s furious
campaigning to both educate the public that file sharing is illegal
and hurts the recording industry, along with the increased number
of individuals the RIAA has sued for illegally sharing music, have
at last begun to infiltrate the minds of the American public.
A recent poll by Peter Hart Research Associates shows that 75
percent of the number of people polled think that file sharing is
illegal, compared to a mere 37 percent reported from the same poll
in November last year.
Whether it is a result of people’s fear of getting sued or
a realization of the consequences that piracy has on the recording
industry, the number of visitors to KaZaa has decreased to a
dramatic 41 percent, from 6.5 million visitors during the week
ending on June 29 to 3.9 million visitors during the week ending on
Sept. 21.
“People know they can’t get away with free music
anymore, and now they understand the reasoning behind it,”
second-year political science student Rosie Carreras said.
This doesn’t mean students aren’t reluctant to let
go of their file sharing habits. While they may feel a twinge of
guilt when not compensating artists for their work, student use of
peer-to-peer networks remains widespread.
“Students will probably continue to use KaZaa and Morpheus
until it becomes too big of a risk,” second-year
international economics student Allison Worth said. “People
don’t feel that big of a threat of getting caught and I know
people are still using file sharing services regularly.”
The recording industry remains in an interesting situation. It
has yet to see if online downloading will be the trend for future
music purchases and whether or not such downloading will affect CD
sales.
“I think downloading will get bigger and bigger because
you can do it in your home,” Carreras said. “It’s
becoming more of a trend because everything is done on computers
now.”
While downloading songs online is a quick and easy method of
getting music, many students claim to have no intention of
abandoning CDs yet. As a way to encourage students to buy their
album, artists have added to the CD features like DVD footage and
special access to concert tickets.
“There’s always something special about going to the
store and buying a CD with the packaging and everything,”
Worth said. “For my favorite bands I’ll buy the whole
CD and not just individual songs.”