1:59PM Napster Inc. (NAPS) 8.87 -0.77: It used to be that Super Bowl commercials were the prime medium to display not only your innovative service or product, but also your creative advertising and marketing group. Napster did have a commercial on the Super Bowl this year, but it was probably not the most creative commercial that aired.
Clearly the general idea was to get the word out that Napster was the way to fill up your MP3 player. The company used a banner that read "Do the Math" that gave the idea that 10,000 songs on your iPod would cost roughly $10,000, while more than a million songs from Napster would only cost $14.95 a month.
The Napster service allows users to download as many songs as they want, and through a digital rights management software from Microsoft, the song will be playable for as long as you are a member on Napster. This would likely require you to upload at least one new song every month or so to validate the subscription and the files already on your MP3 player.
Napster also offers an Internet radio station, or to be exact, 50 Internet radio stations that cover nearly every genre in music. This is a popular service that is also being exploited by companies like Yahoo! and the satellite radio companies.
The only problem with this is that the most popular of the MP3 players is not really designed to work with the Napster service. Napster does note on its website that while the iPod can be used with Napster, it is difficult to do so and not generally recommended. Napster is available on several different MP3 players, a list of which can be obtained on the Napster website.
The initial reaction has to been to sell the stock and explore the service. There is a 30-day free trial, an offer that will probably generate a lot of interest and a lot of new subscribers. The next step is the release of videos on the Napster site, where the service will not only offer music, but music videos and possibly some TV programs. The question now is how fast the service can be expanded and how fast the new MP3 players with video capabilities can reach the mass market. After that, Napster will become a compelling play. |
