Darren Waters recently spoke with Brad Duea, president of online music service Napster, for BBC News.
“Mr Duea says online music sales can transform the whole spectrum of music production and consumption – from artist to music lover,” Waters reports. “The most high profile of all the services is probably Apple’s iTunes, which has a very different model to Napster’s. There are no subscribers to iTunes, users purchase songs either on a per track basis or in the form of albums. It has sold more than 500 million songs world-wide, but Mr Duea is critical of the approach Apple has taken. He says Apple boss Steve Jobs has ‘tricked people into buying a hardware trap’ as iTunes songs can only be taken away and played on an iPod.”
aters report, “And the ubiquitous iPod itself can play paid-for songs with copy protection that are bought from iTunes and none of the other services, but it can play any MP3s. Apple’s approach means the market remains essentially cut down the middle – between the iTunes service, which works only on the iPod, and services which use a Windows Media format, essentially everyone else. ‘The dream is that Napster would work on any PC, any player in any territory and work seamlessly,’ said Mr Duea.”
Full article here.
iTunes Music Store (iTMS) songs can be burned to a CD and imported into any second- or third-rate software jukebox and, subsequently, into any second- or third-rate portable music player. Everyone else uses Windows Media format? Less than 20% use WMA based stores vs. Apple’s market-dominating iTMS. If that’s “everyone else,” so be it, but it bears menitioning that despite Napster’s “dream” of working on any PC, they’d have a slim chance of us actually believing them if they made a Mac version, so that the 15% or so of the personal computing (PC) population that are using Macs could use Napster if they somehow dramatically lost the ability to reason.
Apple’s iTunes, iPod, and iTunes Music Store comprise the only seamless solution that works on both Mac and PC (covering the vast majority of personal computer users). Keep dreaming, Napster, if you think people can’t see through your hypocrisy and FUD.
Napster is a joke and the only thing that Napter’s missing, besides a clue, is the sock puppet. Die with dignity? Not, Napster, obviously.
Related articles:
16-percent of computer users are unaffected by viruses, malware because they use Apple Macs – June 15, 2005
Survey shows Apple Macs owned by nearly 10 percent of US small and medium-sized businesses – February 17, 2005
More people use Apple Macs than you think; 8-12 percent of homes use Macs – March 31, 2004
10 percent of computer users use a Mac; 3 percent is Mac’s approximate quarterly market share – February 10, 2004
Syracuse Post-Standard: 3 percent is a false stat; Mac holds ’10 to 12 percent of the market for PCs – August 27, 2003
Napster: the only thing missing is the sock puppet – August 04, 2005
Enjoying Apple’s iTunes and iTunes Music Store without owning an iPod – May 11, 2005
Apple launches ‘iTunes on Campus’ institutional site license program – April 28, 2004College students refuse to buy a single song from Napster – July 10, 2005
SmartMoney: Napster is a snooze, gushing money and renting music is un-American anyway – July 06, 2005
Colleges should not exclude Mac and iPod users with Dell, Napster music hardware, software offering – July 06, 2005
Napster, other Windows Media-based music services ‘chasing a niche opportunity’ – June 29, 2005
Napster To Go Soon? Reports $24.3 million net loss on $17.4 million net revenue – May 12, 2005
Napster users admit sharing passwords to save on subscription costs – April 08, 2005
Napster is a joke – April 05, 2005
Napster raises fourth-quarter revenue forecast from $16.5 to $17.5 million – April 05, 2005
Colleges offering students music services that aren’t cross-platform, don’t work with iPod – March 22, 2005
Mossberg: Apple’s iTunes Music Store vs. Napster To Go – March 18, 2005
Napster CEO Gorog: Steve Jobs ‘must be pretty frightened’ of Napster To Go – March 14, 2005
Apple’s iTunes Music Store downloads pass 300 million songs milestone (with chart) – March 02, 2005
Napster’s math does not add up – February 28, 2005
Napster’s dirty little secret: changing subscription services into downloads is easy – February 18, 2005
Napster feels the heat over flawed copy-protection scheme – February 17, 2005
Apple CEO Steve Jobs warns record industry of Napster To Go’s security gap – February 16, 2005
Users thwart Napster To Go’s copy protection; do the music labels realize the piracy potential? – February 15, 2005
Napster-To-Go’s ‘rental music’ DRM circumvented – February 14, 2005
Napster CEO Gorog: ‘it’s stupid to buy an iPod’ – February 10, 2005
Report: Napster faces uphill fight to gain share, Apple prepared to run iTunes at a loss – February 10, 2005
Napster’s ‘iPodlessness’ doesn’t bode well for its future – February 10, 2005
$10,000 to fill an iPod? Napster’s going to end up with egg on their face – February 04, 2005
Why ‘Napster To Go’ will flop – February 03, 2005
Napster CEO: We’re ‘the biggest brand in digital music, much more exciting than Apple’s iTunes’ – February 03, 2005
Cornell University’s Mac users ‘uniformly unhappy’ with Napster – January 19, 2005
Cornell University wrestles with Napster’s exclusion of Mac and iPod-using students – September 08, 2004
Why are Cornell’s Mac students being forced to pay for useless Napster? – September 07, 2004
Napster schools to Mac-using students: bend over and take it – September 04, 2004
Brad Duea-fus
The most high profile of all the services is probably Apple’s iTunes,
—
Yeah, the one that started the whole thing.
The one that’s making money.
The one that works with the flat out only music player that matters.
The one that keeps announcing milestones every couple months.
I guess it’s the high profile.
Oh yeah.. 80% marketshare.
Will the whinging ever stop?
Right on there, MDN!
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Although there’s no iTMS in Hong Kong yet, its still encouraging to see Apple do so well.
Thus far, I haven’t seen any actual figures of iPods being sold, but from a visual census by moi, roughly half the people listening to MP3 players are donning the classic ipod whilte bud earphones, and quite alot of them proudly show the iPod shuffles hanging around the neck in front. Always brings a smile to my face to see a like-minded neighbour in the place….
Oh, and first post!
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Mike A, Not till they get to your iPod.
Oops, maybe not first post then….
<sheepishly hides in the corner>
This just in: Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has tricked third-rate download services into offering an inferior audio format that does not work with an iPod (from AP wire reports).
You know, I needed a good laugh this morning, and now I’ve got one.
Funny watching these idiots squirm.
Crack kills, Mr. Duea…
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Crack kills.
It is ironic that competitors of the iTunes Music Store complain about compatibility when DRM WMA files are not playable on Macs. It does not really matter because DRM files are only a fraction of the content in all MP3 players. CD sales continue to be strong and illegal downloads are still out there. This idea that online music will suddenly explode if iPods become compatible with DRM WMA music stores is wishful thinking on Napster’s part. Without Apple doing it first, no-one would be offering per-track downloads anyway.
iTunes is merely an extension of iPod hardware, just like Mac OS X is just an extension of mac computers. iTunes is made by apple, for the iPod. It has some nifty inbuilt features that other companies copied and tried to compete with, but unless the competition can get people to stop buying iPods, iTunes will always have an unfair advantage.
Apple is not a monopoly because there is viable competition to iTunes and the iPod. Therefore it is up to these companies to make products that are compelling enough for consumers. Here’s a possibility: a music store that sells unprotected MP3 or AAC files.
How to steal Napster subscription music.
1: Get a PC and a Napster account
2: Get a copy of WinAmp, you might have to use a slightly older version ans the new one might have disabled this feature…
3: Search online for the Output Stacker plugin for WinAmp
4: Play your M$ DRMed Napster subscription music and a copy will be made into a DRM file. WMA or even MP3.
5: If your lost, just search online for instructions
Of course all the good songs are purchase only, so it’s a trap doing Napster.
And then again they don’t have nearly as many songs as iTMs
For all that work ripping subscription music, one can get entire DVD’s full of music from their friends.
iTunes provides a honest way to compensate the artists at a fair price, the music is yours to own forever.
Napster has a failed buisness model, selling music makes no money and they don’t have hardware to back up the business.
Napster is doomed to fail eventually, nobody likes it once they get iTunes on their machines. iPods are cool and the rest is crapppppola.
“… Mr Duea is critical of the approach Apple has taken. He says Apple boss Steve Jobs has ‘tricked people into buying a hardware trap’ as iTunes songs can only be taken away and played on an iPod.”
Awww, Boo-frickin’-Hoo.
Sour Grapes. ‘Nuf said.
correction
4: …into a DRM free file.
Winamp, Output Stacker
http://marv.kordix.com/archives/000400.html
My Rolls Royce is a hardware trap, too. How could I have been so blind!
Is it just me, or does everybody else here associate Napster with stealing music?
And MDN is 100% right – you can EASILY burn m4a (protected MP4 files) to CD, converting them to AIFF in the process then put them back into WMP or some other crap player. But why on earth would you want to do that?
Sour grapes from a company that’s bleeding money like a stuck pig. Talk about hypocritical. Napster was originally born to promote stealing music and they were flattened for it. Then someone gets the bright idea of buying the dead name to “promote” legitimate music sales and has the audacity to decry Apple the company that truely innovated and legitimized the whole business of online music sales. No wonder Apple is number one and Napster is heading down the crapper. The Napster name is evil incarnate. Apple is cool beyond belief. That’s the real deal!
Apple’s music could always be opened to work on other devices. Microsoft’s format could always be made to work on the iPod. It’s all a question of whom you would want to be potentially stuck with. Microsoft with their great track record when it comes to file formats or Apple who use open source software and tart it up for consumer use. The massive market share Apple have got is a pretty clear indicator to me of people’s choice.
Apple don’t open up the music because they don’t make on it, they make on the hardware you play it on. Microsoft has to “open” its music because they don’t make hardware (for music at least) their goal is to have the whole market then gouge people on the music once they have no choice. Simple.
Just because I can play(forsure) my wma music on a myriad of other (rubbishy) music players doesn’t mean I want to. I own one iPod – suits me (and the majority of other people) fine.
Isn’t Napster the trap? I’d have to pay them every month for the rest of my life to rent the songs I like and even if I wanted to burn them to a CD I’d still have to pay for the individual tracks!!!
I’ve been using iTunes for 3 years and only recently finally got an iPod.
It’s nice too see Apple leading an industry because they care about the product and the user. Too many of the competition have a basic idea of a concept and are just throwing a bunch of crap at the wall to see what sticks (e.g., Samsung announcing a dozen new MP3 players).
I look forward to the day when the iPod halo becomes the noose around the windows monopolistic throat!
I’d be willing to bet that Shawn Fanning is an iPod owner!!!
It’s funny. When Apple was struggling just a few short years ago. I don’t remember ever hearing such drool from the folks at 1 Infinity Loop. They got on with the business of inovating and making great stuff. that’s what pulled them out of the basement and got them climbing back up to the top.
MW: ready—Are you ready for the ride to the top?
Meanwhile, back in the sane world…
The global music industry in 2004 was worth something like US$33 billion.
Apple’s market-leading iTMS, which does at least cover most of developed globe since the launch in Japan, is currently selling around 1.75 million tracks/day, equating to around US$625 million in total out of the whole “legal” digital downloads industry (i.e. excluding AllOfMP3.com) which probably brings in around US$775 million. Thus, digital download accounts for less than 2.5% of the total music industry, and Apple’s iTMS accounts for around 2.0% of the industry as a whole based on 2004 historic figures.
What this really means is that Apple has been intelligent enough to provide a music/audio management service (iTunes) that manages all of people’s music, including the 97.5% that they have as tangible shiny pieces of laminated aluminium, as opposed to Mr. Duea’s contribution which is merely to provide a service which probably only addresses around 40% of on-line consumers – let’s be honest and recognise that most Windows machines are in offices where downloading music is restricted, that usage of services is probably only useful on Windows 2000/XP, and that it is only practical where you have a broadband connection [which lets out a lot of systems in the 2nd/3rd world]) – and constitutes around 0.5% of the music market.
Mr. Duea’s mistake therefore was to believe that he could have a viable business model offering a service to 0.1 – 0.25% of the potential music market, whilst Apple’s genius was in developing a platform/eco-system that addressed a market which, in all fairness, is probably some 250-500 times larger.
And now, what Mr. Duea would like – unsurprisingly – is for Apple to let Napster content – which coincidentally is pretty much the same content as is available on iTMS – onto the iTunes platform. And the way he wants that to happen is to convince 25 million iPod users that have been the stupid and gullible victims of a confidence trick.
In other words, it’s everybody else’s fault except his.
I’m sure that’ll wash with Napster’s shareholders when they find their holdings diluted by Microsoft’s doubtless imminent “rescue plan”.
I wish Napster would explain then how iTunes works on a wider range of personal computers than their service currently does. Last time I checked, Napster was Windows only. So who is offering the “hardware trap” afterall?
So again, it’s the format war- WMA vs. AAC. WMA=proprietary (from MS no less). AAC=standard. These other companies CHOSE to use WMA. They could easily have chosen AAC or ANY other format, developed their own DRM (or had some other company develop it for them). They chose the MS solution. Thus far, the MS solution is losing pretty badly. Why is this Apple’s fault? Apple did the research, came out with a superior product, and reaped the benefits. Times are changing- MS is not a guarantee for success anymore.
Companies that started their name with unfair practices, remain unfair. . .