Wednesday, February 28, 2001
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Wednesday, February 28, 2001 |
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want my Napster and I want it for free By MICHAEL
BOYLAN Napster, the popular music downloading site, has been in the news a lot lately. Through the use of the Napster program, users download MP3 files and then are able to share them with all other users. There is no fee to use the site and everybody is happy, except some musicians, like Metallica. Since anybody can go on to the site and download almost anything they want, by almost any artist, people could download the entire catalog of any band and never pay for the songs. Bands like Metallica argue that as Napster's popularity rises, people will stop purchasing their albums and will simply download the songs and burn their own CDs. This really does not happen that often, as downloading songs can be time consuming and burning CDs can be expensive and even more time consuming. I can see why some starving artist bands may feel cheated. If their band is only moderately popular and struggling, every album sale counts, but Metallica, one of the best-selling rock 'n' roll bands of all time, is hardly struggling. The band was paid one million dollars for a one-hour performance for the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. They make millions off merchandising, concerts, albums and videos and show no sign of slowing down. In fact, many people who use Napster do so to listen to new music and influence their purchases. For instance, a person who has heard Andrea Bocelli's "Con Te Partiro" can download more Bocelli and decide whether to purchase an entire album. Another thing that many opponents of Napster should realize is that without a CD burner or portable MP3 player, users can only listen to the songs on their computers. I can't take my computer in the car with me and I can't lug it to the gym when I work out. Napster is proposing a monthly user fee that would go into effect this summer and users are claiming they will jump ship if this happens. They might. It seems that there are several other programs like Napster around the world and they work better and more efficiently at no cost. The fact that other programs exist and that Napster-like programs will undoubtedly spring up if and when a fee is put into effect, makes the fight against Napster seem futile. At any given time 10,000 users are online and sharing files and that number is destined to grow larger. Napster has been around for awhile, but I didn't download the program until December after we got a DSL line installed. This makes download times very low and makes Napster more worthwhile. Since the end of December I have downloaded more than 300 songs and I have yet to come close to downloading a full album from any artist, much less an entire catalog. In fact, one of the best things about Napster is the availablity of rare tracks and cover songs that can't be purchased anywhere. It has also opened my eyes to forms of music I would never have listened to before. I have more than 20 theme songs from some of my favorite television programs. I urge each and everyone of you to try out this fantastic program, before it is too late. Log on, share your MP3 files with the world and download a Metallica song wile you're at it.
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