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BMG to Purchase Napster

Posted by michael on from the napster-plz-die-thx dept.

asv108 writes "In a dramatic reversal, Bertelsmann has agreed to purchase Napster's assets. Founder Shawn Fanning and CEO Konrad Hilbers are set to return to the company after announcing their resignation earlier this week."

3 of 155 comments (clear)

  1. ..Does anyone still care? by Bowie+J.+Poag · · Score: 4, Insightful



    With OpenNAP, WinMX, and so many other P2P solutions available these days, does anyone really care about Napster? By today's standards, centralized hub-trading is sort of obsolete..

    tar zxvf bag.tar.gz | cat cat

    Cheers,

    --
    Bowie J. Poag

  2. Re:Legitimacy, that's why. by manobes · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Here's the problem as I see it.

    People aren't attached to music labels. Nobody is exclusive to a certianly record label (i.e. I only buy Sony). This is a huge problem for label sponsored download sites.

    While I concur with your point that nobodys going to mind paying $5/year to use BMG/Napster, they aren't going to want to do the same form Sony/Napsterclone, Universial/Napsterclone, etc. It's not just the price, it's the hassle. You've got to fill out a separte signup form for each one, and each has a different UI, different media format, different copying policy etc.

    CD stores are successful becuase they aren't label specific, that's why Napster was successfull too. You could get anything you wanted there. If all they carry in the future is BMG music, then what's the point?

  3. Re:as usual, the music industry by zCyl · · Score: 4, Insightful

    wouldn't it be cheaper to pay someone to duplicate technologies in Napster rather than buying the name?

    Welcome to postmodernism. Names are worth far far more than technologies. Do you think McDonalds has some magic way to make burgers and fries better than anybody else can?