Napster to give away MP3 players

chris cuillachris cuilla
Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Napster, in an apparent bid to create a new business model...giving away the blades AND giving away the razors has decided to begin giving away MP3 players in exchange for a 1-year subscription. Could create an interesting market dynamic for Apple to deal with:



http://news.com.com/Napster+to+give+...l?tag=nefd.top



Of course it looks like these are MP3 players that SHOULD be given away. But we must never underestimate the cheapness of the buying public. This, afterall, is how MS became so dominant with Windows and IE.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,438member
    The real question is how long can napster survive. They are bleeding money profusely. Unless they get some large markethsare increases they won't be around for next summer.
  • Reply 2 of 4
    chris cuillachris cuilla Posts: 4,825member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hmurchison

    The real question is how long can napster survive. They are bleeding money profusely. Unless they get some large markethsare increases they won't be around for next summer.



    I agree. I expect them to die by the end of the year.
  • Reply 3 of 4
    blablablabla Posts: 185member
    Roxio will probably be around. Didnt their software division return to profitability again last fiscal Q? Their music division is bleeding money, and will probably continue to do so next year.



    But Roxio will probably not see the kind of losses they did last year, since the software division is much more healthier now, and also Roxio spent a lot of money on the introduction of Napster ( buying the Napster trademark, R&D and advertisement). That said, I would not investing Roxio, because the wma field will be overcrowded, and I really dont think Naspster is such a strong brand name Roxio wants us to believe. While Napster music division could be profitable at some point in the future, the competition will be so fierce, its obvious margins will stay very very thin. Online music sales (alone) will NEVER be a big money maker.
  • Reply 4 of 4
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    As a guy who has used napster, I can confirm that it SUCKS. fact is, apple got it right, and they are licensing it to other platforms and venders (windows and hp) gee, too bad they didnt take the same approche in 1984.



    And the freebies? well, I was as a beta tester, promised 5 free napster trax. so it went gold (1.0) and I was sent an e-mail with a transaction key to get the credit, so I enter the code and it says something like "account credited" and then when I attempted to redeem them it wanted some sort of fee before I could redeem my premium for beta testing...with customer service like that they are doomed
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