apple news/media reports

02/20/2004, 7:50am, EST

Friday, February 20th

Napster faces plenty of problems

Napster had struck a deal with HP shortly before its launch that would have seen the music service arrive pre-installed on HP computers, but "HP suddenly -- and without explanation -- returned Napster's $250,000 check and canceled the agreement," reports The San Jose Mercury News. HP, of course, would later partner with Apple. This is just one of the blows that Napster 2.0 has suffered since its inception. The company lost $15 million in its first two months of operation, has seen several executives depart, and the latest data shows Napster 2.0 only holding 12 percent of the online music business, compared to Apple's 56 percent.


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a pity
0
02/20, 8:09am, EST
That's really a pity. Maybe they could trash iTunes again to try to boost their marketshare. I hate them.
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ha ha...
0
02/20, 8:17am, EST
They never had a chance... The only guy that ever made any money off of Napster was the teen that wrote the original code...

Everyone else has had the kiss of death with the software
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RIPE
0
02/20, 8:31am, EST
This story is RIPE for another 10-15 RIPE comments

(RIPE Wannabee)
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Muahahahahahahaha!!
0
02/20, 8:52am, EST
In your FACE, Napster 2.0!! I'd rather steal music than deal with a sanitized version of Napster -- and I'd rather see iTunes flourish more than either of the aforementioned.
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12% !
0
02/20, 8:58am, EST
12% is 12% more morons than I thought existed.
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Are we waiting for 5%
0
02/20, 9:19am, EST
...before we refer to Napster as 'beleaguered'.
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lol
0
02/20, 9:43am, EST
Napster 2.0 is a joke. The people that remember napster remember that it was FREE. What made napster great was it was music for the people. Did they seriously think the people that loved napster would have the brand loyalty to use a paid napster service? Please. They should have just created their own name instead of crapping on the name of napster. Even if the RIAA forced them into it, napster has lost all credibility from the downloading community by selling out to them.

iTMS is the new music for the people. Legal downloads without all the bullshit. (The RIAA still sucks ass because of what they do to artists, but until we can find a way to bypass the RIAA without breaking the law, iTMS will have to do.)
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Re: Are we waiting for 5%
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02/20, 9:55am, EST
LOL...
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12%
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02/20, 9:59am, EST
Wow, that's more than I thought they would have.
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20%...
0
02/20, 11:13am, EST
20% in 3 months isn't bad... considering that Apple spends 10x what Napster did (yes, $150M in iTunes advertising) for their share of this pie.

I've tried and like both services actually... Napster subscription of $10 per month to listen to full versions of over 500K songs is great. Excellent choice at work where I have to use a PC. I've found lots of great new music for the price of one album. To do the same on iTunes you'd have to pay $500,000, and yes... I understand... then I'd own those tracks... but I don't want to own all those tracks for $500,000... I want to pay only $10... so don't just drink in Steve's kool aid without thinking it through. Subscriptions are not so bad.

Everyone knows that "execs leaving" is a another way of saying... "execs were going to be fired" so execs leaving/cost cutting/whatever you want to call it, is not always a bad thing.
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