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Napster Launches UK Music Service

Posted by michael on from the all-jethro-tull-all-the-time dept.

amichalo writes "Napster just went multi-continent with the surprise announcement of a Napster UK on-line music service. From the website, singles at 1.09 British pounds, albums start at 9.95 pounds. Availability for other European nations not available. Apple has previously announced they would be entering the European market by the end of the year with rumors of singles priced at 1.49 Euro."

5 of 172 comments (clear)

  1. No iPod support by Phantom69 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Only secure WMA downloads available. Not the greatest idea IMHO bearing in mind the popularity of the iPod.

    1. Re:No iPod support by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You are 100% correct.

      I'm posting anonymously because I'd prefer Napster to _not_ know which school I'm from - they're currently in negotiations with us. I saw what happened to the last guy who spoke up on this topic, and I'd prefer to save us the hassle.

      Both Napster and Real/Rhapsody said the _same damn thing_ when we were talking to them: basically, that the RIAA was setting pretty much all the terms, and Apple/Real/Napster2 are just middlemen. If they could offer those songs at a cheaper price, _they would_. I don't trust any of them all that much, to be honest, but I really believe that they think the pricing and DRM schemes are bad, too.

      There's also a surprisingly large amount of oversight going on by the RIAA. When we were talking about volume pricing, both Real and Napster responded that they could offer us a better deal, but they'd _need to talk to the RIAA first_.

      Don't bitch at Apple, Napster2, and Real about the crappy prices and DRM. There's very little they can do about them. The RIAA is the bad actor here. You can get easy concrete proof of this because the academic contracts for Rhapsody and Napster2 both include the same terms about "stopping IP infringement on University networks".

      Since I posted as an AC, I understand a fairish number of you won't believe I'm telling the truth. That's fine, and I don't blame you. But for the rest of you: stop blaming Napster2 for being greedy with the prices and DRM. They're definitely not the ones responsible.

      It's another thing entirely to go say "this isn't a good value", though - I'm not sure it is.

  2. not competitive by davids-world.com · · Score: 5, Insightful

    both prices seem inacceptable - given the current exchange rate, a song should not be more than about 0.85 euros, or 1 euro max (to round it up).

    The price difference is very evident in times when the American prices at iTMS are just one click away. Ripping off customers is the wrong signal for both stores, and for the music industry. Will they ever learn?

  3. Re:1.49 Euro by in7ane · · Score: 5, Funny

    You are not converting for the metric measurement properly.

    What you got to realize is that there are 10 bits per byte in the EU now, and so the costs are higher.

  4. 10 quid? Fuck off by Enlarge+Your+Penis · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I can get it on a CD with no DRM for that. Hell, if I take advantage of the current exchange rate I can probably get it for half