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Napster & Bertelsmann Move Forward
Together, Napster and Bertelsmann need to generate revenue. Earlier today, a new version of Napster was released to show the world just how that is going to happen. The new version of the file-swapping program includes an e-commerce component linking to Bertelsmann-owned CDNow.
Don't forget about Napster and Bertelsmann's subscription based service, that is still in the works. But today's release marks the first step the two companies have taken toward generating money.
"If BMG can go to the other labels and say, 'Look how many CDs Napster has sold without any marketing or promotion...You guys should get onboard; you can add your own flair to it and your own commerce partners,' it's a proposition that other major labels would be foolish not to consider," said Aram Sinnreich of Jupiter Media Metrix.
Users of Napster 2.0 beta 9, will see a CDNow button displayed in the top right corner of their screens. When a user clicks the button, Napster will launch a separate browser window to CDNow.com.
| Links: |
link(www.napster.com,Napster.com)
link(www.cdnow.com,CDNow.com)
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User Comments
(These do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of this site)
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milladrive
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Date: January 11, 2001 @ 8:48 PM
I'm still very interested ta know how it's all gonna work. Is there anything else new ta Beta 9 other than that new button? |
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Heidi
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Date: January 11, 2001 @ 8:59 PM
This is from Napster.com:
Q: Anything new and cool in Beta 9 I should know about?
A: Yes. Click on the CDNOW button that has been added to the application to conveniently purchase music of your choice.
And don't forget about the Exclude Option we added to Napster Search. Just use a minus sign (-) before any terms you would like to leave out of your search results. If you want to exclude more than one term, make sure to use the minus sign (-) before each of those terms.
We've also added a Rename function in the My Files area so you can change the names of your MP3 and WMA files from within Napster. Just right-click on a file name within the My Files area, select "Rename File," and then type in the new file name. (Notice that you do not need to retype the .MP3 or .WMA extension after the file name. The extension will be added automatically.)
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Q-Logic
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Date: January 11, 2001 @ 10:27 PM
I will be sticking with version 8. I won't look at banners until I am forced to or when the crackers hack that out of it. Crackers, one step ahead of everybody. I think Napster should try to earn money in other areas. Maybe promoting artists tours like they did with Limp Bizkit, but instead, getting a portion of the profits. |
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Anonymous
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Date: January 12, 2001 @ 1:22 AM
I'm so impressed. An icon that links to a CDnow URL. It must have taken Shawn Fanning weeks to write that code. I feel so legitimate. ;)
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homogenuity
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Date: January 12, 2001 @ 2:14 AM
ah. some very tame news.
this is a nice change.
i'm really not feeling up to all that adversarial posturing (of which i've been taking part) in the posting going on about the fcc/aol/tw thing.
this is interesting ... so the idea is you can actually order the cd of the artist you discover on napster. i think that's really keen.
i've been introduced to many new bands on napster, or have otherwise listened to enough of their stuff from said service, to make a decision to buy an album or not.
it seems like being able to move from that introduction or decision phase right to the purchase would be pretty convenient.
though i'm not altogether sure how good i think this union will be in the long run, i think this is a very logical progression for napster.
mp3 goodness :) |
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babyraven
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Date: January 12, 2001 @ 8:25 AM
I don't mind buttons, as long as they're subtle. Nothing pisses me off more than a big, flashy, distracting banner. |
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milladrive
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Date: January 12, 2001 @ 9:54 AM
Thank you, my darling. :)
Welp, still on 6 and still relatively happy. I wonder how long it'll be till I can't use that version anymore. |
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doobybrain
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Date: January 12, 2001 @ 6:28 PM
milla, why dont you at least upgrade to 7? its a heck of a lot nicer looking and it doesnt have all the annoying "new" features of versions 8 or 9.
[doobybrain] |
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madmaxs
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Date: January 14, 2001 @ 2:01 PM
Sounds like Fanning doesn't realize his limits. It appears that with him in the courts he is looking for a way to keep from Napster of going down. I don't know, but from the discussions I've read, and heard through TV, magazines, etc..I think he probably makes this available then Napster won't die. At this point he has already dropped out of college, so Napster is all he has to keep his already accustomed rich life together, and big companies can be very persuasive to a 19 year old kid. Just because you have learned the art of programming, doesn't mean your experienced and smart. It just means you are a good programmer. Just remember w/o those rippers and encoders, Fanning would not have anything. I've met a few authors of rippers, Jackie from Audio Grabber, is a great programmer. So when you trash Napster, just remember that Fanning is a young guy in alot of trouble for the first real time, and like a kid, he is finding new roads out of that trouble. And this is one of them. Remember the old OS/2 programmer that knowone liked that went on his own while he was young and created Microsoft? Think about it, and put the Fanning 19 yr. old shoes on. He does have some great accomplishments, and is getting sued do to his users. We the user provide the music, not Napster. Napster just never new how to block it. His network was put up for new artists to share their music opening it up to Managers, New Artist finders, etc. We the users turned it into something else. I'm not complaining, I'm just stating, if you used Napster, then just remember not to trash Napster. And if you don't like it, then move on to Gnutella, IMesh, or some other service, but remember who made Napster, we the user made Napster, Fanning just programmed it, and open the servers, so give yourselves a pat on the back, and say I was a part of that.
Have fun.
You can trash me at: mad-maxx@bigfoot.com
Good day. |
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