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Napster Canada Launched
PunchMonkey writes "Just days after the Napster UK launch, Napster Canada is now online. Tracks start at CDN$1.19 and albums at CDN$9.95. Interactive streaming is also available for the first time in Canada for CDN$9.95 a month. Napster is the the third online music service to be launched in Canada (following PureTracks and ArchambaultZik), not including the branded Puretracks sites Sympatico Music Store and PureTracks from Telus." (Be prepared for a trio of rejection notices if you're neither running nor spoofing IE under Windows.)
$1.19 Can works out to 0.86 USD. Cheaper than the US non-subscriber version. Still not cheap enuff if you ask me.
It is interesting to note that the Canadians have it cheaper than the US. According to this currency converter, 1.19 CAD is .87 USD and 9.99 CAD is 7.23 USD. Perhaps a lack of litigation is to blame?
Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
0.99 USD = $1.37 CDN
...so technically Napster Canada is cheaper than iTunes. But this is assuming you only listen to music on your computer. They charge extra to transfer the song, unlike iTunes, where it's the same price whether you burn it to a CD, transfer it to your iPod, or whatever.
Napster and the others need to deal with the fact that they've been beaten by Apple.
Uploading was ruled legal in a later decision. The judge equated it to putting a photocopier in a library. Just because you put the material in your shared folder doesn't mean you are actively distributing it.
Support the First Amendment. Read at -1
At least 75% of the noise pollution that I encounter emanating from inside of vehicles is noise of the so-called "urban" variety. I would like to say a higher percentage, but I couldn't swear it was just because of the noise level... To clarify, I consider anything loud to be noise pollution, not just musica that are not to my taste.
Driving behind someone (urgh, even past!) who has something playing at 160db is about the only thing that makes me wish we had pain stimulators in the fashion of the Bond world domination game on steering wheels. To deliver the 'what the HELL were you thinking?!?!'
Although I guess all that would change for urban listeners would be the addition of the 'Rap SUCKS!!!!' zap. Who knows how much voltage you'd need though, given the pain that much db must be inflicting on their deafened eardrums.
Even techno/dance crap doesn't sound as bad at those high db as 'urban' "music".
</OFFTOPIC>
BTW, in case you hadn't heard... rap sucks.
Yep. This part is on topic.
Video meliora proboque deteriora sequor - Ovidius
Recently (May 12) the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage issued a report on proposed changes to the Copyright Act, whose relevant recommendation is as follows:
If you overlook the last vague line, the proposed changes to Copyright Act seem harmless to those who do not download, but those who do, may become customers of Napster et al.The Act would force ISPs to cut off access for uploaders after they have been identified by the CIRA. But the report does not specifically address the disclosure of customers' information (to the CIRA), nor does it address the download v.s. upload meme.
The vagueness of the report is replicated by media reports which further mention WIPO treaties, P2P and anti-circumvention devices, all of which are not specifically addressed in the report.The EFC has not, AFAIK, commented on the report and the Toronto member of Parliament who chaired the committee, hasn't yet responded to my inquiries (will P2P or anti-circumvention be left legal?).
it isn't the website, it is the wma9 drm format. It only plays on windows media player 9 on windows.
Finkployd
BTW, I'd suggest gemm for that soundgarden ep screaming life/fopp. You can find most anything you're looking for there, not always the lowest prices, but many used vendors and a great resource for hard to find material. Oh also, an interesting note, I buy a lot of my import music from canada although I live in the US (seems to be cheaper!).
Uploading and downloading of mp3's via p2p is legal in canada, see:
. ht ml
http://www.canadiancontent.net/commtr/itemid172
Why pay for something when it's already free? They aren't going to sell ice to this Inuit.
Retailers are licensed regionally, as is the media they sell. Although I like the idea of mp3 speculation there are some serious leagl problems (not to mention DRM problems) with it.
If you are not in Canada, maybe they are using a method of checking IPs... That could explain it, since the quote from their site clearly says that only Canadian residents are allowed...
/. affect!
Either that, or yet another wacky side effect of the
But you're not buying it. You're paying for the right to have a copy of it to listen to - and not make copies of it.
Read here
and here
Don't get me wrong... I think some major reforms are needed in the music industry. I'd rather pay my money directly to the band if I have to pay for the music I listen to.
At about $0.05 ($0.01/mb) per 192Kbps (OGG,MP3,WMA) or less for 128Kbps encodes per song, Allofmp3.com is still better than any of the pay-to-download music services. And also, no OS restrictions or browser restrictions, although the auto-downloader program is only available to Win32 systems. I still love being to download the songs on my Linux box and pay by Paypal. http://www.allofmp3.com Seriously, give it a try. I find it's better than using KaZaA or any other P2P system even though I have to pay a few cents per song.
If this is useful for you, feel free to use it. If enough of us geeks send this type of message to those we support, the corporate pachiderms might eventually get it. And if one day one of those companies lets us download mp3s with a standards-compliant browser, we should recommend everyone use that service. Until then, I'm not buying Cds.
Information: "I want to be anthropomorphized"
Beside each song listing there are a few small icons. These icons indicate how you can use the song file once it is downloaded.
To get more information on usage restrictions for each track, click on the associated icon. A window will appear with information on exactly how you are permitted to use the file once it is downloaded.
Listen:
You can listen to your music downloads as many times as you like from the computer that holds the purchased license.
Burn:
You can burn your music downloads to CD 3 times.
Burn:
You can burn your music downloads an unlimited number of times.
Transfer:
You can transfer your music downloads an unlimited number of times to 3 separate portable devices
---
So... it would seem you're totally wrong. Sure, not all files can be burt, but a) Those files are clearly labeled on the site before you pay, b) It does not cost money to burn such files ( WMP does not even support this, have no clue where you came up with this nonsense ), and c) You can't "uprgade" a non-burn allowed file by paying extra money.
There's no such currency as "CDN". The Canadian Dollar is "CAD".
Yet another reason why Magnatune might be worth looking at again. Magnatune has greatly increased its selection since it started up (e.g. it actually has some music I like now), so if you haven't taken a look in the last few months, you might want to look at it again.
eMusic gives you tracks for 22 cents each - Lame VBR encoded MP3s - and of course there's no copy protection. And they have great independent labels like Matador, Kill Rock Stars, 5 Rue Christine, Thrill Jockey, Mille Plateaux, Schematic, etc. plus a shitload of jazz and classical. I have the 90 songs a month for 20 bucks deal - you can buy more if your downloads run out before the month is up.
I refuse to buy into this dollar a song for inferior closed formats with DRM deal. eMusic may not be perfect but it's the closest thing going.
eMusic
1.19 canadian = 0.46 GBP...why then is a track on Naptser UK almost 3 times the price? Would you people pay 2.95 canadian dollars per track?! Napster is turning out to be the biggest ripoff on the net.