Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Not good enough, Napster - Dagbladet.no

The last cards are not dealt in the game of online music market.

Today the old pirate service Napster relaunched as a subscription service in Norway and 13 other European countries, and next week expects “all” that Apple launches music service iRadio.

When Shawn Fanning, John Fanning and Sean Parker launched file sharing service Napster in June 1999 with its revolutionary peer-to-peer technology, triggered it a earthquake still shaking the global entertainment industry.

Napster was the starting point not only for illegal file sharing, but for all the online music revolution.

Today Napster’s not like much the old. The original service was sued in the knee of the music industry, acquired by software company Roxio and later revived by Best Buy as a download store in competition with iTunes. The competition was won as iTunes.

The U.S. music service Rhapsody bought the brand, and now uses the Napster name of its push into the European market. Apart from the name of the actual service as far as I can see identical with Rhapsody.

But do we really need yet another flow service? Competition is already fierce. What Napster has to offer in competition with Spotify, Wimp, Beat and the others – and more radio services like the Apple expected to launch next week?

I have tested Napster few hours a day , PC, and iPhone, and is unfortunately not very impressed. . Here are my first impressions:

UNLIKE to players such as Spotify and Wimp not offer Napster own software for PC and Mac, the solution is web based desktop.

In addition, there are separate apps for Android and iOS, with support for online and offline playback. There is also support for, among others, Sonos music players. The price is 99 million per month.

Webgensesnittet is not the most elegant I’ve seen, but works well enough, with the genre list on the left, album overview middle player and playlist on the right.

iOS app is quick and seems well designed, with extensive use of artistic images.

Napster CATALOG to contain more than 20 million songs as you do not let up for the music to begin with. Recent titles Disclosures “Settle” and Queens of the Stone Ages “… Like Clockwork “is in place, while the broad Norwegian releases Ole Paus’” termination “and Ane Brun’s” Songs “conspicuous by its absence.

Committee in Norwegian music is not at all the best.

where Spotify has seven albums with odd Nordstoga, the Napster wood. A search of the Loch Ness Mouse also reveals that Napster is for both Wimp and Spotify. Don Martin in the album format is missing, while the single “Nilsen” with Tommy Tee is in place. The same thing happens with several other artists , example is the full string of the MP test.

ANOTHER FAILURE you like Norwegian music listening immediately notes is that there is no significant adjustment to Norwegian music habits. There Wimp emphasizes Norwegian music and connects to Norwegian concert and festival events, and Spotify at least presents songs that are trending in Norway, there is no Norwegian profile track with “Norwegian” Napster.

sound quality is decent, but can not compete with that you get the highest resolution Wimp or Spotify premium.

Some option to choose higher quality sound not found in Napster. It streamed in 128kbps MP3 in the web version, and 192-Kbps AAC apps. Offline-quality 192 kbps AAC. By comparison, flows both Wimp and Spotify 320 kbps with maximum sound quality and Wimp beta tester flowing in full CD quality.

radio feature where you’ll find music from an artist you suggest or previous listening is handsome ha. But Spotify has it too – and next week’s product presentation is likely Apple with something similar.

THE SOCIAL PERFORMANCE is not impressive. Where Spotify running hard on the sharing of playlists and link to friends inside the actual program experience limits Napster social functionality to simple sharing buttons on Facebook, Twitter and Google +.

Napster offers including audiobooks and live concerts. But the offer of audiobooks at launch is a pure joke, with a list that only counts Barbie, My Little Pony, Jochen Ore Heimer and the Dalai Lama.

All the concerts and music editorial tips are not very impressive. All Concert on launch limited by what I can see five songs with the English singer / songwriter Gabrielle Aplin.

It must be called to under deliver.

a few playlists and rather thin artist presentations and feature articles supplement, but is there any reason to Napster over the competition.

The reason is it all a bit difficult to spot, after a few hours of the latest addition to the flow market.

Napster has a lot of music, but it has Wimp and Spotify too. Wimp is better on the Norwegian profile, playlists and editorial presentation. Spotify is better at social sharing features and apps from the editorial cooperation partners eligible musikkuratering. Both have better sound, and both PC and Mac applications outperforms the Napster web interface.

Competition is healthy, and new players have to get some time off. However, you are already using the Wimp or Spotify, there’s no reason to switch to the American challenger. Would you still try, you will find Napster here, offering free 30-day trial period.

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