CheebaKing

I know this is kinda old since they already decided Napsters fate. But what do you think about Napster? Personally, I think it's an extremely powerful too, actually too powerful. I do use it oftan, but at the same time i do believe it's wrong. It's wrong because it's gotten so out of hand with over 50 million songs downloaded a day. Even though i use it, i still buy CDs. In fact, if it weren't for Napster I probably wouldn't be listening to half the stuff i do today. What do you guys think?

At the same time, i know for a fact that this whole ordeal with the RIAA trying to shut down Napster is a joke. Because even if they do shut it down, history will not only repeat itself, but something bigger and better is guaranteed to come along. I mean look at it now, you've got iMesh, CuteMX, Bear Share, Tripnosis, Gnutella, etc, etc.

Slightly Stoopid

I think napster is wonderful!!!

whenever someone tells me to listen to this song or that, i just go to napster, and D/L it! But i also do buy Cds. I don't have time to download 20 songs to make a complete cd, so i just go out and buy it for 15$.

But the thing with napster is that it has alot of rare music on the network that you can't find at any local music stores, and i will miss that!

I hear they are going to charge a fee, and i will pay it cause then i think it will be fair to everyone, there will be no loosers. But you got to give the creator credit, at such a young age, he revolutionized the music industry, with a small free file you can d/l over the internet.

I say keep napster open, but charge a small monthy fee of like 5$. It isn't that much, and if you don't give the record labels any money, we won't have anymore good music to enjoy!

As for those other mp3 search programs, they all suck, because you aren't always guaranteed a download. You may select it, but 7 out of 10 times you will never get it for some reason.

mirage

im 2 fold on it

1 pov is they allow theft. in the sense they allow UNRELASED music to be posted. that is stealing in my eyes

other pov is once its out its out and ok

but at least let the stuff get releashed 1st

Suabakey

I was an avid user until my brother downloaded a Dr. Dre song, and I was kicked off.

Then I turned to Scour Exchange, which was unbelievably better, but then Scour shut it down to avoid a lawsuit.

So now I mooch off friends, or go find them on my own.

I think that the record companies are some of the meanest folks on Earth. They don't give a $#!& about the music, no matter what they say. They are doing this because it is making a small impact on their sales. It's not as if they are losing millions. Hell, I've heard from a number of sources that in fact their sales went up last year.

I, for one, on numerous occasions would not have bought a certain CD by a certain artist if not for Napster. I downloaded a few of his songs, y'know, to know what they sounded like. If I liked it, I went out and bought the CD.

__________________
~ Suabakey

Slightly Stoopid

Neh, i doubt napster is boosting record sales.

Jack_Torrance

mp3s have definetly stopped me from purchasing cds, but napster hasn't. shutting down napster will in no way stop the supply of mp3s, as long as anyone can make them from any cd they will always be around. IRC and ftp search engines like audiogalaxy are great ways to get music. I think it will take the edge off the mp3 stuff tho, since the 'general public' who doesn't have the time or patience to learn how to do stuff on ftp or irc will stop, since there is nothing as easy as napster around. I have about 5 or 6 thousand mp3s and probably send and recieve (on ratio accounts) a few hundrd mp3s a day, and when I served on irc i had somethign like 70,000 completed sends, and that is just one person. there are hundreds of people with huge collecftions willing to send them to anyone who wants them, napster will not stop the flow of illegal music, only make it harder to find. another thing which I think is adding to the rise of mp3s is easily available fast connections (dsl/cable) to many regular houses for only a little more per monht then aol. when you can download an entire song in teh time it would take you to listen to, and then create a hard copy playable in any cd player for a few dollars apiece, it is very tempting to do that instead of buy the cd.

Slightly Stoopid

I have a cable modem, though it is like 20x faster than 56k, i still don't have the time to search for all the songs and D/L them, and set them all up. Instead if there is a awesome CD that i want, i just drive down the street and buy it!

Napster is IMHO good for Mix Cd's and finding that rare song. It is the people that make who CD collections of Napster that are taking advantage.

The Stoned Philosopher

The only reason I used to use napster was to d/l songs off rare cds you cant find at any record store. (example, Aphex Twins Selected Ambient Works 85-91) Then came napsters little bout with the RIAA pigs. So I uninstalled napster and began using scour and audiogalaxy,which are better programs than napster imho.
Thanks to mp3s all together i have been exposed to new music,bought more cds (there goes the idea that mp3s decreases record sales,the reason why they had a slump in record sales,which wasnt very much i add, was due to bad music and no doubt the artificaly inflated prices on the cds) and earned new hatred for those capitalist pigs and there sell out flock.

The Stoned Philosopher

Slightly Stoopid

I agree with you Stoned Philoseoher. When there is a main stream cd that i want to buy, i go out and buy it. And if there is a song i want to listen to cause a freind suggested it i would use napster. But i only make Cd-Rs of music that i can only get from napster, because i can't find any stores around here that cary rare Marley music, and slightly stoopid cds.

TomServo

I think its stealing, but I used it anyway because Im a bad person.

What does everyone think the best alternative napster is? I need to know so that I can continue being a bad person.