Last October , my co-worker Chris Breen compare four stream music subscription service : Mog , Napster , Rdio , and Rhapsody . Before then , I ’d never study pay to , as Steve Jobs has squall it , “ rent ” my euphony . But after talking to Chris about it while edit his story , I was intrigued enough to take the plunge and give a subscription divine service a effort .
For a mixture of reasons ( which I ’ll get to later on ) I decide to go withNapster . I signal up at the rootage of November for a class of approach , and wanted to share my experience — both the full and the bad — of using the serve for the last four month .
The Good
Although there are decidedly limitations to streaming euphony , there are a lot of thing about it that are pretty nerveless .
High qualityBefore anything else , it ’s important to found that Napster offers very practiced stream calibre . Audiophiles might pooh - pooh the whole thing , but in a Earth of flat MP3 and AAC files , it would be hard to tell apart the difference between those local file cabinet and Napster ’s cyclosis counterparts .
good than previewsDigital download services like the iTunes Store or Amazon.com offer 30 - moment ( or , added recently,90 - s ) previews of Song dynasty they trade . While that ’s better than nothing , it ’s really not long enough to give you a tangible gumption of the song and whether it ’s deserving your severely - realize hard currency . Often times , I ’ll try about a new song or creative person from a friend or because they recently won an award , say . With Napster , I can ( in most cases ) mind to fill out songs alternatively of just poor previews .
My Napster playlists include lots of albums I wouldn’t otherwise purchase or listen to.
My Napster playlists include lots of album I would n’t otherwise purchase or listen to .
elaborate musical horizonsBuilding on the former point , Napster lets me listen to euphony I ’d never buy , and therefore probably never hear except in passing . That afford me up to passel of new ( or new - to - me ) euphony .
Saves me moneyMany multiplication , I ’ll bribe an record album from the iTunes Store or Amazon , listen to it once — and then never heed to it again unless a birdsong bolt down up when I ’m shuffling through my medicine . Just like watching a crumby movie streaming from Netflix , I can palpate knowing that even if it ’s not a good album , I did n’t compensate anything extra for it .
Downloading albums to my iPhone using the Napster iOS app.
Good PricingSpeaking of prices , I signed up for a whole twelvemonth of Napster plus roving access for $ 96 . That comes out to $ 8 a calendar month , which is less than buying a single album from the iTunes Store . That gets me unlimited cyclosis to my computer , plus mobile memory access ( more on that short ) . you’re able to also opt to give $ 10 a calendar month , bill monthly or quarterly . For the standard Napster account , which eschews fluid documentation , it ’s $ 50 a year , or $ 5 a calendar month ( placard monthly or quarterly as well ) .
I still do buy some music — mostly live music that is n’t usable any other way , or album I know I ’ll require to play over and over again ( kids medicine , for example ) . And it ’s worth note that Napster also sell medicine .
Downloading record album to my iPhone using the Napster iOS app .
The Audio Handler window.
Io supportWith a Napster plus mobile approach account , you’re able to also delight Napster on iOS , BlackBerry , and Android gadget . The iOS app , while not universal , works on any iPhone , iPod touch , or iPad run iOS 3 or after .
With it you could research for medicine , see new releases , and play medicine . But the best part is that you’re able to download song , albums , and play list to your iOS gadget to listen to offline .
Squeezebox supportAt home , I listen to a lot of medicine in the family area using a Logitech Squeezebox Radio ( ) . When choose a stream music religious service , it was very of import to me that I could listen to it not just on my Mac or iOS gadget , but also from the Squeezebox . That gimmick supports Napster and Rhapsody .
Without a new releases section, you’re stuck with the Featured Music layout.
The Not-So-Good
Now , lest you reckon me a lovestruck fool wholly entrance by Napster , I do have several complaint .
Web - based instrumentalist is n’t greatMy bad problem with Napster is how you listen to it . There ’s no background covering , so everything is controlled through a ( newsbreak - enabled ) internet web browser app . The interface is rather despicable , and although you could create playlists or add intact albums to the playback queue , there ’s no path to control anything without mouse and clicking . If you delight using keyboard shortcuts with iTunes , say , you ’ll rule doing everything in a internet browser in earnest frustrative ( or at least I do ) .
The Audio Handler window .
Napster also separates playback control into two separate browser app windows . You shirk with the queue and looseness / pause / switch tracks via the main windowpane . But there ’s also a small Audio Handler player windowpane that launches when you start toy something raw . Closing it stops your music and clears you queue . So the idea is that if you ( accidentally ? ) come together your main Napster window , medicine will extend to play . But once you close that primary window , there ’s no way to see your queue , pause playback , and so on . Connect to Napster again and you wo n’t see any strain in your waiting line .
Also , when you click to reveal the waiting line , it pour down out from the bottom of the window and covers almost the integral interface . Plus , the queue does n’t show you tag lengths . In other word , somewhat of a mess .
Without a novel releases section , you ’re stuck with the Featured Music layout .
New release are hard to findWhen I claver Napster on a Tuesday , I require to know what novel albums were relinquish on that day . Unfortunately , there ’s no veridical new releases section . If you go the Featured Music page , you ’ll see a big lean of recent album , sorted by escort within each genre , but there ’s not delineation between them . ( The iOS app depict you the same list of album , but oddly calls it New Releases . ) you’re able to come home on individual genres from a list on the left of the screenland , but you ’ll only see a few albums for each , and only some were unloosen that week . And in any fount , there ’s no mode to see , say , all the album put out on a certain date . Amazon , by contrast , furnish aNew & Future Releasespage that show releases for the last three Tuesdays , plus upcoming MP3 albums that will be available ( along with the exact appointment ) .
Purchase - only albumsAlthough most subject is useable to stream ( that is what you ’re paying for , after all ) , some albums ( or specific songs within albums ) are purchase - only . In that caseful , you ’re limited to a prevue that ’s no better than the iTunes Store or elsewhere . But the large problem is , there ’s no direction to tell what albums or songs have such restrictions until you look at each record album . I get that Napster ca n’t offer all tracks for streaming , but the service should make it clearer to users which albums / songs fall into that class .
The bottom line
In general , I ’ve been pretty glad with the content and characteristic I get from Napster ( specially for the toll ) , but the interface and piloting could be a deal better . At this pointedness , I ’m not sure if I ’ll regenerate my subscription when it runs out later this year , but either way I ’ll have savour and expose myself to lots of music that I otherwise would n’t have . And that ’s worth it to me .
