News Blog

(Credit: Napster)

Probably the biggest piece of digital music news to come out of CES 2008 was that Napster was planning to offer its complete catalog of more than 6 million tracks in the unprotected MP3 format.

On Tuesday, with the launch of version 4.5 of the software and store, that announcement becomes a reality. Although digital music stores such as eMusic, Amazon MP3, and even Napster itself already had MP3s on offer before this point, the collective catalogs of all three didn't even come near the volume of tracks you can find in the entire Napster library. All four major labels and thousands of indies are represented in the store, and every track will be available at the standard 99 cent price point.

Napster's Web-based store with the online media player window open.

(Credit: Napster)

In addition, Napster's Web-based store, which is all that is required for MP3 purchases and downloads, is compatible with every operating system. And--of course--the MP3s can be played on any MP3 player, portable video player, or music cell phone. Currently, 95 percent of the catalog is encoded at 256Kbps, which is reasonably high-quality for an MP3, and each track comes with hi-resolution album art (at least 1,000x1,000 pixels). Although Napster has quite an international presence, the MP3 store will only be available to U.S. residents for the time being.

Napster will continue to offer its online and To Go subscription services for $12.95 or $14.95 per month, respectively. The music associated with a subscription will remain in the protected WMA format with the time-out capability.

The company did make some improvements to its online interface. It now features a "liquid layout," which resizes everything within both the store and media player windows when you adjust the size of either window. Napster has also improved its download management system so that users can better view what has been purchased already and whether it was ever downloaded after the purchase.

Sadly, because of label restrictions, Napster will not be offering any type of trade program for customers who have a library of DRM-protected WMA files that they purchased a la carte. However, the licenses on those files will continue to be supported by the service, so no need to worry about a repeat of the MSN Music scandal. At least not for now.

Amazon.com's MP3 site

(Credit: Amazon)

Amazon.com's MP3 service is growing but not at the expense of Apple's iTunes, according to a report issued Tuesday by market researcher NPD Group.

Only about 10 percent of the people who shopped at AmazonMP3 in February were previous Apple shoppers, NPD said.

This is a "healthy indication that the digital music customer pool can expand into new consumer groups who have not yet joined the iTunes community," Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for NPD said in a statement.

Apple's iTunes remains the No.1 digital music store. AmazonMP3, which launched in September, slipped past Wal-Mart to take over the No. 2 spot in February when comparing the individual music tracks downloaded by consumers in the U.S., according to NPD.

The big question now is whether Amazon can continue to grow without snatching away customers from Apple.

Amazon may be enticing its existing customers to the music store, Crupnick noted. He said that a Superbowl promotion that Amazon held in February may have drawn regular shoppers to check out the new music service. He also speculated that many music fans are visiting out of curiosity.

"We'll have to wait to see what Amazon can do with those people," Crupnick said. "Does the traffic snowball or does it wane?"

Amazon has at least one major advantage over Apple: Apple's DRM-free tracks are available only from EMI Music, while Amazon offers unprotected MP3s from all four of the major record labels. Also, Amazon sells digital music at a higher bit rate and its songs are often cheaper.

But Amazon has a long way to go, says NPD. MP3 sales at iTunes are more than 10 times larger than at Amazon, the research firm said.

Online retailer eMusic, the self-described second-largest music service after iTunes, announced Monday that it has sold more than 200 million downloads since November 2003 when it moved to a subscription business model.

The New York-based eMusic said in a statement that it is selling more than 7 million tracks a month. Interestingly, the company--the largest retailer of independent music--included in its announcement that it has sold 40 million downloads since Amazon began selling unprotected MP3s last September.

Apparently, eMusic, which has long sold open MP3s, wants to show that Amazon's offering hasn't cut into its business.

Lately, there's been a dispute between the online services about which ones are the largest after iTunes. David Pakman, eMusic's CEO, has been very vocal about some of the claims.

Those crazy guys behind the LimeWire file-sharing application have set up a DRM-free music store--LimeWire Store--where users can choose from 500,000 MP3s, taken from the catalogs of absolutely no major labels. Alternatively, users can download free, lossless versions of millions of songs from every major label using the usual LimeWire "technique." Which, RIAA lawyers would likely argue, is illegal.

If skepticism were a flavor of ice cream, we'd be sitting here with the world's most excruciating brain freeze. Napster managed to redeem itself by having its name bought by another company, having its P2P application vanquished and by offering titles from major labels. LimeWire, however, still operates its hated-by-the-entertainment-industry network of downloaders, and we don't expect Sony or Warner Music to sign any distribution deals until its roster of artists are blocked from the controversial network.

To be fair, LimeWire's new service (which is currently in beta) could be a great place to go looking for new bands and underground artists. In contrast to eMusic's subscription model, LimeWire offers pay-per-track pricing, so you can quickly pick and choose your downloads without committing yourself to recurring monthly charges.

Downloads go for anything between 30 cents (15 pence) and 99 cents (50 pence), with subscriptions varying between $10 (5 pounds) a month for 25 songs, and $20 (10 pounds) a month for 75 songs. eMusic offers plans from 8.99 pounds for 30 songs a month, to 14.99 pounds for 75 songs a month, but it backs those with a library of three million songs. The LimeWire Store is also only available in the U.S., but we couldn't find a single song we'd want to buy for 15 pence anyway.

As a purely Web-based service at the moment, the site is at least attractive, with music reviews written by LimeWire's "real live music-loving employees, drawing upon their years of music industry experience." Terrific.

Maybe those people pirating FLAC files of Amy Whinehouse or Peter Andrex from LimeWire's usual service will have more love than we do. We think you'd be better off watching Encoded.

(Source: Crave UK)

(Credit: Creative)

That headline is my offhand way of mentioning that Creative just dropped Zen prices: You can now get the 8GB model for just $150, the same price as Apple's 4GB Nano. If that's your budget for a portable media player, which one should you choose?

It's practically a no-brainer: the Zen has a larger screen (2.5 inches), an FM tuner, twice the storage, and an SD card slot for adding even more storage. On the other hand, the Nano is way slimmer and sexier, and iTunes offers a much broader selection of TV, movies, audiobooks, etc., than Amazon Unbox (the main place to get such content for the Zen).

Still can't decide? Check out CNET's reviews: The Zen scored an 8.3 out of 10, while the Nano came close with an 8.0. So they're both winners, but you obviously get a lot more bang for the buck from the Zen. Think Apple will respond with its own price reduction?

Michael Robertson is behind the new site Dealipedia.

(Credit: Michael Robertson)

Serial entrepreneur Michael Robertson has started a new business-information site called Dealipedia.

Robertson, founder of such companies as MP3.com and Linspire, is relying on the wisdom of crowds to supply information on IPOs, mergers, acquisitions, closings, bankruptcies, and investments. He said that Wikipedia has proven that allowing the masses to provide and edit information works.

Dealipedia is a "combination (of) news, reference and perhaps a bit of gossip for business deals," Robertson said in an e-mail to CNET News.com.

At Dealipedia.com, I clicked on the site's "Who Made the Money" section to see if Robertson's own name was included. Sure enough, it was. According to the site, Robertson pocketed $115 million when he sold MP3.com to Vivendi Universal for $372 million in May 2001.

Jason Calcanis made $11 million and Mark Cuban made $2 million (as of Tuesday afternoon) when Weblogs was sold to AOL. None of this is breaking news and the section is relatively bare of details. But Robertson is hoping the content will grow as greater numbers of business insiders contribute.

In one area, Robertson will also allow users to post info anonymously. He said this has supplied new details about Flickr, Delicious, and GrandCentral.

"After continually getting frustrated that I couldn't find historic data on business deals," Robertson said, "or easily keep track of new deals without reading a dozen different publications, I decided to remedy the problem."

The site is designed to appeal to investors, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs, Robertson said. His intent is to offer a "nice snapshot" of a company's life cycle from the first round of investment all the way to an IPO.

(Credit: Buy.com)

I know, it's already a portable video player--I mean one with a bigger screen. Buy.com has the Memorex iFlip on sale for $59.99 shipped, a pretty significant savings over the $199.99 list price.

Similar in design to a portable DVD player, the clamshell-style iFlip features a 7-inch widescreen LCD, stereo speakers, dual headphone jacks, and an iPod dock/charger that promises up to five hours of video playback from its rechargeable battery. It's designed for 5G iPods; I'm not sure if it'll work with 3G nanos. (Class? Anyone?)

I suspect that videos will look a little grainy and washed-out on the iFlip's 480x234-pixel screen, but it's probably better than squinting at your iPod's tiny LCD. Plus, it saves you having to hold the iPod at a comfortable viewing angle for hours at a time. I wouldn't pay $200 for one of these, but $60? I'm giving it serious thought.

(Credit: Logitech)

My iPod spends more time in its speaker dock than it does anyplace else. The dock resides in the kitchen; the iPod serves up tunes when the Cheapskate clan is cooking, cleaning, eating, and so on. My only regret is that it doesn't have a radio, meaning we can't listen to NPR when the mood strikes.

That's why I'm seriously eyeballing the Logitech AudioStation, an iPod speaker dock that also has an AM/FM tuner. It's packed with other features, too, like a remote, an audio input jack (for connecting non-iPod players), and composite and S-Video outputs (for watching iPod videos on a TV). It also charges your iPod, of course, and cranks out 80 watts' worth of audio goodness.

The AudioStation sold for $300 (!) when CNET first reviewed it (and rated it 8/10), but now you can grab one for a mere $49.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate.

Note that TigerDirect won't let you return the item unless it's defective, and even then you can only exchange it for a replacement. On the plus side, it's backed by a 24-month Logitech warranty.

(Credit: Creative)

Here's a simple math exercise: should you spend $199 on an 8GB iPod nano or $119.99 on an 8GB Creative Zen V Plus? Answer: a big fat "that depends."

The nano has a slightly larger screen (2 inches, versus 1.5 on the Zen), a way sexier design, and vastly superior software for managing music, podcasts, and the like. But for $80 less, the Zen nets you an FM radio, a voice recorder, compatibility with subscription-music services like Napster and Rhapsody, and even line-in recording.

So it boils down to style over substance. If you're in the market for a flash player and want a sexy status symbol, pony up for the nano. If you want more features and a bargain price (Buy.com has the Zen V Plus for $119.99 shipped after a mail-in rebate), get Zen.

It's worth noting that Creative actually has the same model on sale for $129.99, no rebate required, but it's out of stock at the moment. I can understand why: that's a pretty sweet player for the money.