Napster Struggling Even when It Gives the Service Away

Created by Kyle Johnson (Guilford College) on July 9, 2005

Here's a little story from across the pond (we'll across the pond for me anyway) in the Register about Napter's stuggle on college campuses. An interesting read especially given that in most cases students have been getting the Napster service for free (well free in the sense they don't pay for it, but the colleges have to drop something to pay Napster, so you do pay in the end).

My favorite quote:

"For Napster's college ventures to result in long-term success, they must overwhelm the students with the quality of the service. And, in fact, the vast majority of kids at Rochester find Napster's software very easy to use. Even so, 56 per cent of the students use other services than Napster even though they receive Napster "for free." In addition, many students complained about Napster's Windows-only approach, its lack of selection and its DRM policies - not to mention their continued fondness for P2P applications."

As I've mentioned before (at least twice), giving students Napster for nothing doesn't seem to change their behavior. And if we aren't modifying the behavior, why are we spending money on contracts with Napster?

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		Napster Struggling Even when It Gives the Service Away Created by Kyle Johnson (Guilford College) on July 9, 2005 Here's a little story from across the pond (we'll across the pond for me anyway) in the Register about Napter's stuggle on college campuses. An interesting read especially given that in most cases students have been getting the Napster service for free (well free in the sense they don't pay for it, but the colleges have to drop something to pay Napster, so you do pay in the end). My favorite quote: "For Napster's college ventures to result in long-term success, they must overwhelm the students with the quality of the service. And, in fact, the vast majority of kids at Rochester find Napster's software very easy to use. Even so, 56 per cent of the students use other services than Napster even though they receive Napster "for free." In addition, many students complained about Napster's Windows-only approach, its lack of selection and its DRM policies - not to mention their continued fondness for P2P applications." As I've mentioned before (at least twice), giving students Napster for nothing doesn't seem to change their behavior. And if we aren't modifying the behavior, why are we spending money on contracts with Napster? Blog (WebLog) Kyle's blog Login or register to post comments 2577 reads
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