Napster, once the most recognizable names in music downloading, is preparing to challenge the current music download king Apple’s iTunes.
The publicly owned Napster launched Napster To Go today, a subscription-based music download service that, unlike iTunes’ pay-per-song service, requires a monthly fee to take part in. Although the to services have fundamental differences when it comes to downloading songs, Napster is still targeting iTunes with their service advertisements. From Napster:
Fill and refill you mp3 player without paying 99 cents per track.
Napster also has a parody page of the Apple Switch campaign on their web site.
Chris Gorog, Napster’s chairman and CEO, speaking about his new service and its goals said, “Napster To Go provides infinitely greater value and is much more exciting than the iTunes pay-per-download model. This is what consumers want and Napster is once again proud to lead the industry by being the first in the world to offer this revolutionary new way to enjoy music.”
However, toppling iTunes will be no easy task. Recently, Apple announced their music service had just surpassed 250 million downloads, or 1.25 million a day. Numbers like this, and the fierce loyalty that Apple products seem to instill, will be difficult to overcome. By recent numbers, iTunes makes up for 70% of the legally downloaded music industry.
To boost (re-boost?) name recognition, Napster is planning a broad, $30 million marketing campaign, kicking off, pun intended, with the Sunday’s (2-6-05) NFL Super Bowl. They are also preparing to introduce the “Works with Napster To Go” logo program. This will allow Napster To Go compatible mp3 players to display a sticker indicating so.
In order to use Napster 2 Go, you must have compatible mp3 player, which Napster provides a list of. Sorry iPod users. According to Napster, “The first time you connect your Napster To Go-enabled device, you will be prompted to set your Device Partnership Option.”
When transferring songs, users are reminded “If you are not a Napster To Go member, you will be prompted to purchase the tracks before they will transfer to your MP3 player.”
So which preference will win out, iTunes’ pay-per-song service, or Napster To Go’s monthly subscription? Considering Apple’s market share, the odds are steep for the company with the name that started the music download revolution.
Napster To Go offers users a free trial before the monthly charges accrue.
Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for murdok. Visit murdok for the latest search news.
