U2 show at UMN was simply amazing. Thanks to the thunderstorm, we can officially say we have rain-danced with Bono. All in all, an incredible night brought together by one of the world’s greatest bands.
Still an amazing song that just came onto my Pandora and definitely worth a share…especially since it is such a great vid!
“New” Napster is a Great Tool for Music Fans
The first time I ever tried Napster, it was THE greatest thing I had ever come across. Of course this was in the late 90s. I am thankful to Napster for helping me experience a lot of new artists and music I would have never found had I not had that experience.
Flash forward a decade and of course we have learned a lot about digital downloads. Heck five years ago when I lived in Italy I was downloading TV shows off bit torrent JUST to be able to keep up with my favorite shows. The last five years have created so many amazing technology upgrades that give consumers instant access to their favorite songs, shows, movies…etc. So instant in fact, that we get frustrated when we cannot get something instantly. But I digress…
I have been a great user of iTunes (I know from looking at my spending habits over the past 5 years!). I am also a loyal user of iTunes and Apple products (see previous threads). There have always been some things missing though that I wished were easier with iTunes. First of course was the ability to hear more than :30 of a song I am contemplating buying. The second was something that Pandora was able to deliver for me — the ability to choose an artist and discover other artists similar and really hear their music before buying. Why? Because I truly LOVE music and I love discovering new artists.
The new Napster delivers both of these AND the ability to still put EVERYTHING on my iPods and iPhone. Before I go further I must disclose that I am a Best Buy employee and Best Buy purchased Napster last year. That said, I have not ever worked on Napster, nor do I have any understanding of the Napster plans internally. If anything, the fact that Best Buy owns Napster just made me feel guilty for not ever trying it, so I decided to give it a try.
I purchased a group of 60 songs and a full year of streaming music.
My favorite thing thus far in my test is that I have the ability to listen to most full songs while I search or do other things (you can add them into your queue and save playlists without purchasing the songs). There are great radio stations based on type of music and it helps me search based on other songs that I like.
Once I purchase songs, I can choose where they go. I put them straight into my iTunes library and they upload the same as songs I purchase from iTunes. This is amazing to me, because I have had no luck with any services outside iTunes.
So why do I think this is a great tool for music fans? Because as a fan I can find and listen to music how I want to. And I still paid to have access to stream the music I listen to, so I am still supporting the artists/labels.
Getting back to Napster has taken me a decade, but I am really happy with the experience so far. Looking forward to discovering more!
