Text 5819, 57 rader
Skriven 2005-07-09 17:12:12 av Mike '/m' (1:379/45)
Ärende: Students refuse to buy a single song from Napster
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From: Mike '/m' <mike@barkto.com>

Fav quote:  "...This strategy requires a massive cultural change in which
people must accept restrictions on when and how they can listen to music that
is of lower quality than a CD...."




http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/09/napster_rochester_survey/

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Napster has put a new twist on the notion of being a loss leader. It has
actually managed to sell more songs for rival online music services than for
its own product, according to a survey conducted by a university customer.

Not a single University of Rochester student admitted to buying a song via
Napster during the Fall 2004 semester. Instead, eight per cent of the students
turned to the likes of iTunes and Musicmatch to buy songs they enjoy. That's an
ominous sign for a company spending millions to seed the university market with
music in the hopes of unseating Apple as the clear leader in online music.

Most troubling for Napster, things don't appear to be improving on the music
purchase front. During the Spring 2004 semester, a whopping 1 per cent of
students did buy tracks off the Nap. Now no one does.

The situation worsens with Napster's small number of specialty "buy only" songs
not included with its standard service. Two per cent of students purchased such
tracks from Napster, while 39 per cent turned to rival services to secure their
songs....

Napster has spent tens of millions on a massive marketing campaign, attacking
the "$10,000" cost it takes to fill an iPod. (This is a meaningless statistic
when you consider that iPod owners are free to add their existing CD
collections and those of friends to their device at no cost.) In addition,
Napster has subsidized device makers, attempting to create interest in the
non-iPod music player market. This strategy left Napster reporting a $24m
fourth quarter loss.

A host of companies, most notably Napster and Real, appear convinced that
consumers will buy into the concept of renting their music. This strategy
requires a massive cultural change in which people must accept restrictions on
when and how they can listen to music that is of lower quality than a CD. If
you pay a monthly fee forever, you receive all the music one could desire. A
decent idea until you realize that most people nurture their music collections
to reflect their tastes and don't want access to all the blather ever
created....
===





 /m

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