Why I Like the new Napster

This year purchasing music online has finally begun to take off. Downloading songs, burning CDs, and paying for a file or subscription – not a packaged CD — is a paradigm shift. I recently subscribed to the online music downloading service Napster, and I love it. There are a number of places you can buy music online, here is why Napster is so great.

1. Listen to the whole song before you buy

With Napster, songs can either be streamed or downloaded. In most cases you can listen to the whole album, pick out the songs you like and only pay for those. The songs you don’t want to buy, you can still keep on your computer and listen to them over and over again. Before Napster, I would normally buy 5-6 CD’s a month but only like 40% of the songs. With Napster, the $9.99 subscription pays for itself because I only buy the tracks I like.

2. Enough Selection to make it worthwhile

You can’t find everything on Napster, but there are certainly more good tracks than I have time to listen to.

3. Exposure to the latest music

I don’t watch enough MTV to know my Hoobastank from D12. With Napster, I can hear the latest artists “on demand” and decide if I like them.

4. Surf the Billboard Charts – all the way back to 1955

Some of the most fun I’ve had with Napster is surfing back to the 80’s to listen to songs I had long forgotten about. It is like having a music library in your living room.

In the next 5 years, stereo systems will begin to be able to play internet radio stations and play music from your PC (they already can, check out this mini system from Philips). This means you should always be listening to exactly what you want to hear.