Napster Business Model Not Generating Revenue

An anonymous reader writes "We all know that Apple generates revenue from iTMS via hardware sales. How the hell can pureplay music stores like Napster generate revenue enough to even stay alive? They don't. Is this the first indication of the bubble bursting? Is it time to figure out what to do when your Napster WMA files go unsupported after Napster 2 dies?"

Comments

I got it!

[Tablizer]

They should run it from India.......[SWAAAACK!]

Re: Overlooking Apple's DRM

[jackDuhRipper]

... iTunes and Napster are in the same boat as far as DRM, but since iTunes is /. favorite, most people tend to overlook their DRM

For most of the informed readers, it not a matter of overlooking Apple's DRM, but a matter of recognizing its fairness and utility to users: iTunes Music Store's "FairPlay" is pretty consumer-friendly.

While I don't know all the details of Napster's DRM (I use iTMS), I do know that WindowsMediaPlayer is *not* as consumer friendly as iTunes - a prime example being that WMediaPlayer will burn a disc in WMA format by default rather than something most CD players or computers could handle (e.g. an audio cd or mp3)

Re:Exactly!

[Mr. Piddle]

Make everyone "technically" a criminal in some manner (draconian laws), and ensure they don't 1) know any better (lousy public education) and 2) don't have time to change things even if they did understand (increasing work hours without compensation).

The irony in the current presidential races is that all the canidates are representing parties that support such a situation. Republicans have their corporate buddy-buddy shenanigans and labor issues, while Democrats have their war on drugs, the war on the environment, and the war on the rich (thicker irony in the fact that all the canidates are wealthy). November 2004 is a lose-lose race for everyone. I don't even have to get into secret society theories about Kerry and Bush, either--the problems are transparent right on the surface for all to see.