Napster itself is also hoping to resurrect its services on the
legal subscription model, provided it can secure the necessary
deals.
At the height of its popularity, almost 80 million people took
advantage of Napster’s centralised swapping network to download MP3
files for free. The centralised index made it easier for users to
find and then download music stored on the computers of all its
members.
The proposed subscription services involve music being
downloaded direct from the service provider and there will be a
monthly charge.
Does this signal the end of free music? Although many
non-charging service providers lack the range or indexing abilities
that Napster had, there are still many on-line services available
if users want to avoid paying subscription fees.
While some work in the same way as Napster once did, the
majority operate as decentralised swapping networks and do not rely
on a single index held on one computer - which makes them much
harder to shut down. Although the choice of MP3 files is not as
extensive and may be more difficult to locate, these services are
free and recent reports suggest that people are not ready or
willing to pay to download music from the internet for as long as
the free sources exist.
A report by the digital research company Webnoize suggests that
62% of US college-aged users will continue to access MP3 music
files for free using illegal web sites. It is thought that the new
commercial services will have to offer something above and beyond
what can already be downloaded for free. It seems that consumers
are not going to pay merely for easy access to a wide range of
music, but will expect exclusive access to on-line concerts,
pre-released songs or discounts for CDs.
If the music giants are to win the battle against the illegal
downloading of MP3s, they must be prepared to utilise their
resources to make on-line subscriptions far superior to what is
currently available.
