Napster Review

The folks who started it all, the P2P pioneers themselves, are at it again. After a brief and dirty battle with the law, Napster is back for more and, if not better than ever, at least significantly changed. Arguably the biggest and strongest competitor to Apple's iPod and iTunes, Napster is no longer a P2P service but a direct download service - customers download songs directly from Napster's own expansive database.

Napster is (mostly) a subscription membership service with 3 different ways to play (so to speak): Napster Light - their pay-for-play version with no monthly fee; Napster - giving members unlimited access to listen to and download all the songs in the database for a monthly fee, but members cannot burn music to CD or transfer songs to a portable player without paying a discounted rate per song; Napster To Go - a more pricey subscription service allowing you to transfer downloaded songs to a compatible portable MP3 player. No matter what service you use, you still cannot burn songs to CD without purchasing them, an extra charge above and beyond your subscription fee. Napster is a great deal for people who like to listen to music without feeling the need to own it.

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Product Ratings:

Selection	24 / 25
Price	18 / 25
Tech Support /Cust Service	15 / 15
Tutorials	15 / 15
System Compatibility	4 / 10
Download Speed	5 / 5
Refund/Cancellation Policy	3 / 5

Overall Grade: 84%

	Features 7-Day Free Trial Napster, Napster Light, and Napster To Go Napster To Go with 3 months free promotion (with purchase of select MP3 players) Handpicked playlists 50+ commercial-free radio stations Create custom radio stations Exclusive stories, interviews, and feature articles Napster Community tools Napster Creative (screensavers, animations, wallpapers, AIM icons and TV spots) - Flash player required Napster Ringtones Napster UK and Napster Canada Napster Gear (merchandise, promotional paraphernalia) Military discount Napster Cards (gift cards/prepaid cards)

	Selection Napster's own database of over 1 million songs 50+ commercial-free radio stations Over a million tracks All the newest releases (or almost all) Exclusive NapsterLive recordings Download 5 decades worth of Billboard Charts

	Price Tricky to evaluate price here $9.95/month for unlimited access to download and listen to songs on your computer $14.95/month for unlimited access to download and listen to songs on your computer and/or a compatible portable MP3 player $0.80-$0.99 per song if you wish to burn any of these songs to CD or keep any of these songs (on your computer, on your portable player, etc.) once you stop paying the membership fee

	Technical Support / Customer Service Fabulous These folks really are industry leaders, even if circumstance has kept them small. You don't get that way without primo customer service. Plus, these comparative old-timers know their product inside and out

	Tutorials Fantastic! They must have learned how to do this by starting out as a P2P service, because theirs is one of the cleanest, clearest, most comprehensive and easily-navigable tutorials of their peers

	System Compatibility Too restrictive Windows XP/2000, Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.1 or higher, and Windows Media Player 7.1 or higher Windows XP and Windows Media Player 10 only for Napster To Go NOT compatible with iPod

	Download Speed No problems at all They have effectively used all their years in business to iron out any kinks in their product that might have once slowed down downloads.

	Refund/Cancellation Policy Cancel at any time, but no refunds on membership fees or purchased music

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