Spring Break
Gear Envy - Music for the masses
By: Jay slovacek
Issue date: 2/9/05 Section: Aggielife
Super Bowl commercials are supposed to be indicative of advertising themes and corporate messages for that year. While some commercials are just a waste of $2.4 million (this year's average 30-second commercial fee), occasionally commercials fire the first salvo of competition.
Consider the Napster 2.0 ads during Sunday's Super Bowl. According to advertisements, Napster costs only $10 a month for unlimited downloads and $5 more to transfer these downloads to a portable music player of your choice.
Napster claims to be a revolution in online music. Instead of paying 99 cents a track, such as one does with iTunes, Napster charges a $10 monthly flat fee for all the music you desire.
These Windows Media Audio-protected music files allow you to download and play them on your computer, but song encryption prevents sharing or using without the subscription. Think of the service as something in between a radio station and an MP3. Since most people use their computers as their source of music, this system works nicely. Napster CEO Chris George has been quoted as saying, "Napster To Go will change the music industry forever."
But is Napster truly revolutionary or is it just a different marketing scheme? How does its service differ from iTunes? Let's compare four ways: sound quality, music selection, pricing scheme and user software.
iTunes: iTunes provides a massive library in high-quality audio coding format. More important than a broad selection, iTunes has a thoroughly current selection of music. Their music catalog does a great job of balancing mainstream music with independent labels and up-and-coming artists.
The "listeners also bought" feature is one of the most beneficial services iTunes provides. While other services (Napster) provide this option, the iTunes software makes it easy to use and a great way to branch out your musical tastes. With this feature, I've found great music that I would have never discovered on my own.
Consider the Napster 2.0 ads during Sunday's Super Bowl. According to advertisements, Napster costs only $10 a month for unlimited downloads and $5 more to transfer these downloads to a portable music player of your choice.
Napster claims to be a revolution in online music. Instead of paying 99 cents a track, such as one does with iTunes, Napster charges a $10 monthly flat fee for all the music you desire.
These Windows Media Audio-protected music files allow you to download and play them on your computer, but song encryption prevents sharing or using without the subscription. Think of the service as something in between a radio station and an MP3. Since most people use their computers as their source of music, this system works nicely. Napster CEO Chris George has been quoted as saying, "Napster To Go will change the music industry forever."
But is Napster truly revolutionary or is it just a different marketing scheme? How does its service differ from iTunes? Let's compare four ways: sound quality, music selection, pricing scheme and user software.
iTunes: iTunes provides a massive library in high-quality audio coding format. More important than a broad selection, iTunes has a thoroughly current selection of music. Their music catalog does a great job of balancing mainstream music with independent labels and up-and-coming artists.
The "listeners also bought" feature is one of the most beneficial services iTunes provides. While other services (Napster) provide this option, the iTunes software makes it easy to use and a great way to branch out your musical tastes. With this feature, I've found great music that I would have never discovered on my own.
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