Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: Napster usage stats support RIAA claims

Author:Jonathan Hendry
Posted:8/2/2000; 2:53:23 PM
Topic:Napster usage stats support RIAA claims
Msg #:19409 (In response to 19407)
Prev/Next:19408 / 19410

In summary, the major reason people are using Napster is not beause they are criminals in search of a free lunch, but rather because Napster provides a service that's unavailable elsewhere.

While there are valid legal uses for Napster, you're not addressing the issue of the rush to download, which is what the Register was talking about. It strikes me as unlikely that people are hitting Napster in record numbers because they're trying to sample as much music as possible before Napster is shut down. There are other ways to sample music for free (friends, libraries, retailers) after all. The act of finding new music just doesn't seem very well suited to being rushed.

(I'm also not convinced of the utility of Napster for discovering new talent. There doesn't seem to be enough context there; artist/album/song doesn't really convey much information if you've never heard of the artist before. I find Amazon or CDNow to be much more useful for this, since they have some published and customer reviews, and they also offer clips to listen to. But, your mileage may vary.)

The rush to download certainly looks a lot more like people rushing to fill up at 'last call' at an open bar. I can't see the same sort of behavior happening at the end of a wine tasting.

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