Napster Pre-Paid Cards

G4Outcast writes "According to this CNN Money article, Napster will be offering pre-paid cards costing $14.85 at several retail locations. I guess the iTunes gift certificate and allowance idea is catching on."

Comments

Amazing

[cubicledrone]

The sheer brilliance of iTunes continues to echo across the computer and entertainment industries.

Apple has proven what shareware authors have known for years: good service and convenience are more valuable than the data itself.

Now that there is a valid business model, everybody wants to be as cool as Apple.

Re:Dumb question

[CrankyFool]

Sort of depends on what you're trying to do and what your priorities are, right?

I have an interest, but not an overwhelming interest, in downloading free music. My priorities, however, are:
A) Be able to reasonably use the music I get (download to my work system, my notebook, my home desktop; burn CDs; listen on my iPod) and not feel as though I have to go "God damn this DRM!"
B) Get the music I want without having it bundled with crap (requires the ability to purchase songs rather than just albums);
C) Get a single song for a decent price ($.99 is reasonable; $3.49 for a CD of a single isn't);
D) Be able to get the song I want;
E) Be able to get the song I want easily;
F) Be able to get the song I want quickly
G) Reasonable sound quality (which is important, but given that my ears don't seem to have a problem with 128Kbit MP3s isn't really an issue)

Based on these priorities, FOR ME ITMS is a really, really good match. I've not yet felt hampered by its DRM (though admittedly, the first thing I do is burn a CD of my protected AACs and rip it); its prices are reasonable; downloads are wicked-fast; and one of these days I'll be able to access it from work though our password SOCKS proxy. I hope. :)

Here's an example of what I have to go through right now:

I wanted to get ATB's "Let You Go" yesterday. The first thing I tried was ITMS, but they have no tracks by him; so then I tried Kazaa, where there were three copies of the song, but all downloads were stuck at 'searching for more sources.' Finally, after a thirty minute search on the net I was able to find the MP3. Would I have paid $.99 to get this song from ITMS? In a heartbeat.

And that's why Kazaa is -- again, for me -- a backup to ITMS for any music I *really* like. I still use it for music I essentially get because it's free and wouldn't pay for, but that's less important to me. If I could get all my music from ITMS and could get only porn from Kazaa, I'd still be a happy camper (though with a few less mp3s on my hard drive).

Where's Napster's Suger?

[Doesn't_Comment_Code]

From all I've read, Apple makes very little from the selling of songs. iTunes DOES promote the iPod, which is a cash cow.

If the new (hechem.. fake) Napster is selling songs for about the same price, how are they going to make enough money to stay in business?

brand awareness

[andih8u]

Most people still identify napster with getting free if not illegal mp3s. I think trying to keep the name was a bad marketing idea. Most people won't be able to figure out why they should buy downloads to something they thought was free. Keep the technology, change the name.

Prepaid card show who the market is

[Squeebee]

Look at MMORPGS like Everquest. They offer pre-paid cards to tap into a very lucrative market: teens. These kids make money at part-time jobs (or receive it in allowances) and have no expenses, resulting in high levels of disposable income. Problem is teens usually lack credit cards. Without prepaid cards a lot of online services cannot tap into this market because if they can't pay cash they can't pay.

I think what we'll see next is a prepaid card that a lot of online retailers choose to accept. Oh wait, that's a check-card. Well, expect to see more teens with more check-cards in the future.

Why credit iTunes?

[OzPhIsH]

I guess the iTunes gift certificate and allowance idea is catching on.
Gift certificates have been around for as long as I can remember. It's only natural for places of commerce to offer gift certificates nowdays. Why this is being credited to iTunes is rediculous. If a poster had said "Microsoft's gift certificate idea" I would have read 100 posts about it by now. I'd say it's pretty likely that using a gift certificate/allowance would have happened with, or with out iTunes.

Interesting Marketing

[Goyuix]

iTunes is lacking in a brick-and-mortar placement. It might show up on a magazine cover or something, but by Napster having these cards at the checkout of a grocery store line, it opens up marketing potential (people just seeing it helps it be regonized) and also people tend to throw additional things in their cart while they wait to check out. Why do you think they have both sides of the checkout isle lined with various "convenience" items. It isn't uncommon to grab a pack of gum, candy bar, lighter - whatever.

Granted we are talking about ~1 dollar instead of ~15, but still this could definitely be a good business move for Napster.