Napster Being Shut Down

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Posted by Soulskill on Friday December 2, 2011 @05:20AM from the seth-green-unavailable-for-comment dept.

helix2301 writes "Napster was one of the earliest and most popular P2P music-sharing services. After a long legal battle that saw Napster slowly gutted in the face of infringement lawsuits, it was reinvented as a legitimate music download service. The resurrected Napster is now being shut down. Rhapsody has completed its purchase of Napster and will be absorbing its subscribers and assets."

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Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by elrous0 · 2011-12-02 05:21 · Score: 5, Insightful

The music industry had to be dragged kicking, clawing, and screaming into the 21st century. If it weren't for Napster and iTunes we'd all still be driving down to the record store to buy $15 CD's, just to get the one or two songs you actually want and the 10 other songs that are complete filler. It's sad that Napster had to be a sacrifice on the road to the industry finally waking up and realizing that people actually want digital music and they want it at a reasonable per-song price--that we'd had enough of getting gouged under the old LP/CD system.
Of course, they're still grumbling about it--and many of them still want to slap DRM on their music. But at least Napster (and later Kazaa) were there to scare the industry and make them realize that people want to download digital music, and iTunes was there to show them that, yes, you can still make money off it (but we're not buying your overpriced albums anymore for one song).
Of course, I'm sure the arrogant stoner at my local record store hates this, as he no longer gets to snort at my record choices and tell me about how *HIS* taste is so much more hip than mine.

--
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
1. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by Anonymous Coward · 2011-12-02 05:22 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Except now you're paying $15 for a digital copy, and $10 for the CD, or $1.99 for that "just one track".
2. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by jaymz666 · 2011-12-02 05:23 · Score: 2
  
  What's a local record store?
  Even without download services, sites like AMazon, CDNow, Music Boulevard and their ilk were eating away at the local record store business.
3. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by masternerdguy · 2011-12-02 05:26 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  If your smart you grab the CD and rip it, then store the CD in a safe place. You save money and have no DRM.
  
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4. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by elrous0 · 2011-12-02 05:28 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I'm not sure where the arrogant stoner went after the local record store closed. But if I had to guess, I would imagine he's in his Mom's basement right now listening to a post-pre-punk ska glam fusion band on vinyl and longing for the days when he could spend all day telling customers how much better his tastes were than theirs.
  
  --
  SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
5. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by jaymz666 · 2011-12-02 05:28 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  And a backup! Oh, and liner notes and pretty pictures.
  Try selling a used download at the local Half Price Books & Music.
6. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by masternerdguy · 2011-12-02 05:30 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Probably nickelback. They're good as mass production.
  
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7. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by DogDude · 2011-12-02 05:32 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Speak for yourself. Instead of buying overpriced, poor quality, DRM'ed music, I DO go to my local CD store, buy $10-$15 CD's, rip them for my own use, AND I contribute to my local economy.
  
  --
  I don't respond to AC's.
8. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by ackthpt · 2011-12-02 05:32 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Except now you're paying $15 for a digital copy, and $10 for the CD, or $1.99 for that "just one track".
  I am completely fine with $1.99 for one track, if the rest of the album isn't of any interest. I'm an old Album Rock dude, but will be among the first to recognize how many one/two hit wonders there have been where I won't want the whole CD.
  
  --
  
  A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
9. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by MightyMartian · 2011-12-02 05:32 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Yeah, they just record twelve versions of the same song for each album. I swear that I cannot tell the difference between any Nickelback song. It's like if the Beatles only recorded dozens of variations of She Loves You.
  
  --
  The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
10. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by elrous0 · 2011-12-02 05:33 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Well, there are bands whose albums you buy and then there are bands who make one or two decent songs and then sleepwalk through the rest of the recording sessions. At least now I have an option to treat them differently.
  
  --
  SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
11. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by elrous0 · 2011-12-02 05:34 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Anything my girlfriend likes.
  
  --
  SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
12. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by elrous0 · 2011-12-02 05:38 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  AND I contribute to my local economy.
  Buying from my local record store was only helping keep the local weed dealer in business. But to each his own.
  
  --
  SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
13. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by Pope · 2011-12-02 05:40 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  If it weren't for Napster and iTunes we'd all still be driving down to the record store to buy $15 CD's, just to get the one or two songs you actually want and the 10 other songs that are complete filler..
  They really shot themselves in the foot with the whole CD single thing, that was gouging pure and simple. I still have an old '45 from 1980 with the original price tag still on it: CAN$1.49. That was when LPs were 40 minutes or less with 8 songs, going for around CAN$9.99.
  
  --
  It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
14. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by icebraining · 2011-12-02 05:43 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  If you're smart you download that rip and buy some merchandising from the artist. You save money, have no DRM, probably pay more to the artist and get some nice t-shirt or similar besides the music.
  
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  Dilbert RSS feed
15. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by mat+catastrophe · 2011-12-02 05:56 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  If you were buying albums with 1 good song for every 5 bad ones, then yes, the local store's stoner's taste is probably better than yours.
  
  --
  sig not found
16. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by Anonymous Coward · 2011-12-02 05:56 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  You don't seem to understand the economics of dealing weed. I used to make several hundred dollars per day just dealing to friends; selling records would have been a pain in the ass and cut into my profit margin.
17. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by elrous0 · 2011-12-02 05:58 · Score: 2
  
  Hey, I'll have you know I've hiked every mountain in Skyrim.
  
  --
  SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
18. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by aussiedood · 2011-12-02 05:58 · Score: 2
  
  ... to buy $15 CD's, just to get the one or two songs you actually want and the 10 other songs that are complete filler...
  I always preferred buying the whole album and still do. But if you bought a whole CD for one song, more fool you. There were these things called singles, they've been around since music became commercialized. I don't get why people perpetuate the myth that individual song purchase was bought about by the digital age!
19. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by elrous0 · 2011-12-02 05:59 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  When in 'reality' we know that your taste is so much more hip than anyones.
  
  I listen to bands so niche that even they haven't heard their music.
  
  --
  SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
20. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by kiwimate · 2011-12-02 06:17 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  This. I haven't lived in New Zealand for a few years, so I don't know if Real Groovy Records on Queen Street in Auckland still exists. But it was amazing. A room full of used albums, many of which were genuine rarities that you couldn't find anywhere else.
  And that includes on-line. There are albums that I cannot buy on-line. The mega-stores don't carry them. They're not available from the artist directly. But I can sometimes find them at the local used music store.
  Or I could, before they went out of business because nobody buys albums any more. I do care about the mega-stores going out of business, because there are people who work there who are without a job (I'm talking about the high school kids who had a weekend job there, that kind of person). But I care more about the independent shop that was started with someone's life savings because he loved music. He's the guy who'd find the rarities. And he's the guy who lost his life savings.
21. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by Kozz · 2011-12-02 06:22 · Score: 2
  
  Probably nickelback. They're good as mass production.
  I initially read that as ass production. Picking nits, I guess.
  
  --
  I only post comments when someone on the internet is wrong.
22. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by similar_name · 2011-12-02 06:24 · Score: 2
  
  I DO go to my local CD store, buy $10-$15 CD's, rip them for my own use, AND I contribute to my local economy.
  I've never understood how buying anything that is not produced locally benefits the local economy. The money was already in the local economy (you had it). When you buy a CD some of it stays local and some of it goes off to the record company some where else. The net result is that money is removed from the local economy. Now if you purchase from local bands that produce their own CDs that would keep the money local. Even better if someone from a nearby town comes over and buys from your local band.
23. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by Runaway1956 · 2011-12-02 06:38 · Score: 2
  
  If it cost a penny to see a nickelback performance, I'd want a nickel back. I hear them on the radio from time to time. I can't help thinking that they have a sound that COULD be worth a lot. But - it just isn't worth much. Like MightyMartian, I find it difficult to differentiate between one nickelback title and another. They are a cut above rap, but only a cut.
  
  --
  "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
24. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by tripleevenfall · 2011-12-02 06:43 · Score: 2
  
  The major question is, who has tastes so bad that they'd even want to listen to any one of the twelve different versions of that song?
  Raah raahhh booze, drugs, stripclubs yeah! Raaaahhh party, drugs, booze, cars! Cars, booze, party, girls! Yeah! (guitar solo)
25. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by Myopic · 2011-12-02 06:48 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Wow, really? I buy CDs for one, two, or sometimes three dollars used. My favorite site is Half, but there are many others. Consider using them -- it really sounds like you are still purposely repeating behavior which results in you getting screwed. I can only imagine that you do that in order to preserve your plausible claim to the right to complain, but if you ever feel like actually solving the problem of overpriced music, you can do that easily.
26. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by oldmac31310 · 2011-12-02 07:01 · Score: 2
  
  You don't understand the compression issue. There is nothing wrong with normalizing tracks so that the maximum loudness is close to 0dB. The reason for the 'solid brick' you see and hear is the overuse/abuse of compression so that all sounds/instruments and parts of the track become close to 0dB.
  
  --
  http://www.acetonestudio.com
27. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by Anonymous Coward · 2011-12-02 07:07 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I listen to bands so niche that even they haven't heard their music.
  I like Beethoven too.
28. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by mcavic · 2011-12-02 07:36 · Score: 2
  
  We still have a local record store. It's called Borders.
  
  Oh, wait.....
29. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by thisnamestoolong · 2011-12-02 08:40 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  First of all, you are misunderstanding the reason that artists create things. People create things because they want to create things. This is why there are so many starving artists out there; millions of people are willing to go without in order to continue focusing on expressing themselves and creating art. Any musician who molds their output completely around profits is NOT an artist by any stretch of the imagination; they are a corporate shill and a hack. This is the biggest problem with the media companies, they used to produce art, now they generate content. It quite honestly makes me throw up a little bit in my mouth and makes me yearn for the day that the RIAA, MPAA and all the other associated blood-sucking, soul-killing leeches die off and sink into the mud like the filthy parasites that they are.
  
  --
  To the haters: You can't win. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
30. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by organgtool · 2011-12-02 09:47 · Score: 2
  
  Musicians usually don't make much, if any, money at all on merchandise. The merch contracts are usually set up by the labels and make sure that everyone gets their cut off the top, leaving the artists with the scraps. If you haven't read Steve Albini's "The Problem With Music", he explains how merch works (as well as a ton of other ways the labels screw their artists).
31. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by GrumpySteen · 2011-12-02 10:33 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  > Suppose in the (not too distant) future, next to no one ops to buy entire CDs vs. a single track. Won't all artists then be one or two hit wonders?
  It depends on how talented the artist is and how devoted the artist's fans are. There are people who will only buy singles that they hear and like, but many people prefer to buy albums (especially if they've heard several songs they like one one album). A few will fall in love with the music and buy absolutely everything the artist produces.
  Look at Lady Gaga's sales for The Fame Monster. 5.8 million albums in 2010. The songs were available as an MP3 single for $0.99 the same time the album became available at the end of 2009. Half the songs were on The Fame which released in 2008. People still bought millions of copies of the album.
  For a (much) smaller artist, look at The Dollyrots. It's probable that you've never heard of them, though they've gotten enough exposure that it's not impossible. They are definitely not a superstar band.
  They did a kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a new album. Of the 540 people that pledged money up front, only 39 pledged the minimum required to get a download of the album or less and 110 more pledged the minimum to get a physical CD. 291 (over 50%) of the people pledged more than the minimum necessary to get the album in the form they wanted it in.
  The rewards varied, but as you get up into the hundreds of dollars, you can be certain that you're looking at the hardcore fans who will buy anything this group produces. 15 people pledged $300 each to get the band to write songs for them (which, since there are so many, are going to be made into a 2nd album that everyone who pledged gets a copy of). Two people pledged $1000 each to spend a day in the studio with the band where they get to watch, sing gang vocals and join in on hand claps. One idiot pledged $500 to get the album and a bunny suit (disclaimer: yes, I'm the idiot). These are fans who will not only buy anything the band produces, but will act as patrons to help fund the band's production of new material.
  So... yes, there may be fewer people who buy albums, but there will always be people who buy albums even if individual songs are available. There will also always be fans who will buy everything produced by their favorite artists and dedicated fans with money who will help their favorite bands far more than a CD sale ever could.
  The flip side of this is the artist's viewpoint and the realities of how music is produced. It's more cheaper and faster to have a dozen songs you want to record when you go in the studio than to do a dozen sessions for one song each. If you record it all in one go, for example, you only set up all the equipment once, as opposed to setting it up a dozen times. You're also in the groove as you move from one song to the next. You don't have to spend a lot of time warming up and getting ready to record. The same thing applies to what the sound engineers engineers do as well. They need setup time and time with the band to discuss what the band wants. Mastering a dozen songs in one session is far faster than a dozen sessions with one song mastered in each and sound engineers charge by the hour.
  tl;dr - Albums will continue to exist because there are plenty of fans who will buy albums and it's cheaper to record music an album at a time. And you should totally buy Dollyrots albums or might find a guy in a bunny suit peeing on your lawn.
32. Re:Without Napster we'd still be buying all CD's by Anonymous Coward · 2011-12-02 11:26 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  If only that guy ripped and uploaded those rarities instead of worshiping their decaying physical form they wouldn't be rarities. Or would the music suck if everyone knew about it?
Who cares ? by mbone · 2011-12-02 05:22 · Score: 5, Insightful

Really, who cares ? The original Napster is long gone; this is just a corporate entity that bought the name.
The Real Question is.... by apcullen · 2011-12-02 05:24 · Score: 2

How did they stay in business as long as they did?
No need to be illegal any more by sandytaru · 2011-12-02 05:27 · Score: 3, Interesting

I'm happy with my free podcasts. Over a gigabyte of fresh, free music weekly, and the artists putting out the podcasts/radio shows encourageyou to download them. ("Put it in your playlist and listen to it nonstop for the rest of the week" Above& Beyond chimed in a few weeks ago during "Trance Around the World.")

--
Occasionally living proof of the Ballmer peak.
Repost by Joe+Jordan · 2011-12-02 05:27 · Score: 5, Funny

Come on guys, this was posted 11 years ago now.
1. Re:Repost by socrplayr813 · 2011-12-02 05:49 · Score: 2
  
  Napster, as it stood back then, is long dead. The Napster being discussed now is (was?) a music store that was formed from the ashes of the old music-sharing service. The second sentence of the summary even explains it.
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napster
  How you people get informative mods, I'll never understand.
  
  --
  The confidence of ignorance will always overcome the indecision of knowledge.
Re:morality by MightyMartian · 2011-12-02 05:36 · Score: 4, Informative

We are talking about a business here that has regularly ripped off its own artists. I keep up to date on Robert Fripp's struggles with UMG/Universal. They just do whatever they want, and when he demands accounting information and information on how songs that he never gave permission to be placed on download services ended up there, he basically enters that evil realm of lawyer/accountant double-talk.
However bad music piracy may be, the biggest pirates of them all have always been the record companies. They'll even try to steal of big name acts. Both Pink Floyd and the Beatles have had to go to court to retrieve royalties or to enforce contractual requirements.

--
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Social network by goldgin · 2011-12-02 05:39 · Score: 2

At least it will be remembered via "The social network". I was feeling quite old when my highschool students responded "napster?" while mentioning it in computing class until recently.
Without Napster we'd still be using FTP by betterunixthanunix · 2011-12-02 05:52 · Score: 2

People were downloading music long before Naptster...

--
Palm trees and 8
Re:morality by MightyMartian · 2011-12-02 05:52 · Score: 2

I'm not trying to justify piracy. I'm trying to point out that it has always struck me as the height of hypocrisy for record companies to bemoan piracy when they've been stealing from artists for years. The same goes for the movie industry, where Hollywood "accounting" would most likely, in any other industry, lead to lengthy prison sentences for embezzlement.

--
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Re:morality by icebraining · 2011-12-02 05:53 · Score: 2

Copyright infringement != stealing. In neither case.
But, GPL infringement is often for profit, while file sharing isn't. You can be sure that many people that defend file sharing won't agree with making money from it.

--
Dilbert RSS feed
Re:A punk snob? by tripleevenfall · 2011-12-02 06:40 · Score: 2

That's where music snobs have gone today, to the acoustic emo pseudo dirge singer/songwriter Firstname Lastname of the week.
Bonus points for slicked hair, "vintage" glasses and greasy skinny jeans (the key is to look like you don't care what you look like whilst obsessing over it)
Wait... by CMYKjunkie · 2011-12-02 06:42 · Score: 2

Napster still existed in the first place?? I'm a huge nerd and seriously had no idea they were still around (in the legal form or otherwise). I can't be the only one so I'm feeling like whatever Rhapsody paid was too much!
Re:A punk snob? by Reasonable+Facsimile · 2011-12-02 10:52 · Score: 2, Funny

How many hipsters does it take to change a light bulb?
It's a really obscure number, and you've probably never heard of it.