the new napster - P2P-Zone

JackSpratts · 02-05-06, 11:52 PM

just signed up and logged in under one of my old napster nics (jackspratts). went right to "track" and chose bruce springsteen's "new york city serenade." lots of strings, acoustic guitar and piano, soft and loud singing and a pretty good audio test for dynamic range and frequency response.

by now you all know that napster is a free service. you can listen to anything they have up to five times. it's not a download in the strict sense (although of course it is) but something more like instant request internet radio and in the business it’s called a stream.

the verdict is mixed. the convenience factor is unquestionably high. open up your browser (i used opera and firefox with no issues) and in seconds you're listening to anything and everything. the price is zero. the paranoia issues are null and the five-times limit is not exactly a crushing burden (it auto repeats and at least in one case way more than 5x). which leaves...the sound. funny thing that. not all bad for a low bit stream. clean, ok presence, decent highs and lows - except during crescendos - then it goes way over the harsh limit and it almost, hurts. going back to new york city serenade and the first third of the song, coming out of my thinkpad and into my sony phones it's good. not great, but good. then, as the boss ramps it up the flaws begin to intrude upon the experience and quite frankly, spoil the mood. fish lady! ouch.

as background it'll work a lot better…it's just that as any dj knows it's hard to play cuts without planting yourself in front of your box, and that means the sound is right there too. if napster wants to get the most out of this model they're going to have to increase the bitrate and smooth out the stream, otherwise people will try it a few times and pass.

as a concept free is about as good as it gets in the (admittedly compromised) online music delivery business, but with just a little tweaking it can be a serious player, and in areas where users have handheld boxes running opera mini-browsers in wi-fi saturated cities it could be dominant. until then it will be an "almost there" also ran among serious listeners of music, although i’m sure many people will run this often, particularly in noisier environments like work and school.

is "napster" back? no, it may never be what it was. but this company, and this service, is, right now, as close to that promise as it has ever come, and over the next few days, a lot of us will be signing on, and playing long, and thinking about what almost was.

jack.

JackSpratts · 03-05-06, 12:07 AM

"Billy, he’s down by the railroad tracks, sittin’ low in the back seat of his cadillac,
Diamond jackie, she’s so intact, she falls so softly beneath him,
Jackie’s heels are stacked, billy’s got cleats on his boots,
Together they’re gonna boogaloo down broadway and come back home with the Loot,
It’s midnight in manhattan, this is no time to get cute, it’s a mad dog’s promenade,
So walk tall, or baby don’t walk at all.

Fish lady, fish lady, fish lady she baits them tenement walls,
She won’t take cornerboys, ain’t got no money, and they’re so easy,
I said, hey baby won’t you take my hand, walk with me down broadway,
Oh mama take my arm and move with me down broadway yeah,
I’m a young man and I talk real loud, yeah, baby walk real proud for you.
So shake it away, so shake away your street life, shake away your city life,
And hook up to the train, oh hook up to the night train, hook it up hook up to the, hook up to the train,
But I know that she won’t take the train, no she won’t take the train,
No she won’t take the train, no she won’t take the train
She’s afraid them tracks are gonna slow her down,
And when she turns this boy’ll be gone
So long, sometimes you just gotta walk on.

Hey vibes man, hey jazz man aw play me your serenade
Any deeper blue and you'd be playin’ in your grave.
Save your notes, don’t spend ’em on the blues boy,
Save your notes, don’t spend ’em on the darlin’ yearlin’ sharp boy,
Straight for the church note ringin’, vibes man sting a trash can
Listen to your junk man, aw listen to your junk man,
Listen to your junk man, oh listen to your junk man,
He’s singin’, singin’, singin’, singin’.
All dressed up in satin, walkin’ past the alley.

Watch out for your junk man,
Watch out for your junk man,
Come on little girl, watch out,
Watch out for your junk man,
Watch out for your junk man,
Watch out little girl."

theknife · 04-05-06, 04:49 AM

can you rip the stream?

JackSpratts · 04-05-06, 08:57 AM

yes. inasmuch as your typical sound card recorder can handle it for breakfast. but again it's a low-bit encode and for my money (re: effort - it is free) it's not worth the hassle.

another let down is their library's depth or lack thereof. rare breeds don't roam the napster server farm. i suppose this may change but when an established company excludes classics like andy pratt's self-titled chaotic masterpiece (and new england fm favorite), dan folgelberg's devastatingly personal "home free" and batdorf & rodney's eponymous '72 soft-rock demi-opus it's obvious their arrow points directly at the big forehead of middle-brow america. hey, it's working for wal*mart, but unlike brick and mortar operations virtual libraries cost near zero to stock and can and should be as expansive as possible. i mean, my hard drives have more of that stuff than theirs do. the new napster's celestial jukebox fails utterly on that score.

- js.

theknife · 04-05-06, 11:08 AM

i wasn't aware of the changes Napster has made...can we assume thier previous business model (renting music, wasn't it?) is tanking and this is a move to stave off total collapse?

JackSpratts · 04-05-06, 02:53 PM

pretty much, yeah, and there's a bw story in this weeks wir that echoes your observation.

In all, [CEO] Gorog's latest announcements probably don't presage a coming of age for Napster, but the start of just another scary chapter as the company fights for survival.

in the meantime, they're giving it all away and hoping to make it up on the volume.

but you know...no special player, no infectious spyware, no personally invasive sign-up requirements. just a made up a nic and web email, and any old browser, and you've got a million tunes to click. what's not to like? this is truly a first. nobody else is offering this now, and no one ever did before.

- js.

02-05-06, 11:52 PM	#1
JackSpratts Join Date: May 2001 Location: New England Posts: 10,018	the new napster just signed up and logged in under one of my old napster nics (jackspratts). went right to "track" and chose bruce springsteen's "new york city serenade." lots of strings, acoustic guitar and piano, soft and loud singing and a pretty good audio test for dynamic range and frequency response. by now you all know that napster is a free service. you can listen to anything they have up to five times. it's not a download in the strict sense (although of course it is) but something more like instant request internet radio and in the business it’s called a stream. the verdict is mixed. the convenience factor is unquestionably high. open up your browser (i used opera and firefox with no issues) and in seconds you're listening to anything and everything. the price is zero. the paranoia issues are null and the five-times limit is not exactly a crushing burden (it auto repeats and at least in one case way more than 5x). which leaves...the sound. funny thing that. not all bad for a low bit stream. clean, ok presence, decent highs and lows - except during crescendos - then it goes way over the harsh limit and it almost, hurts. going back to new york city serenade and the first third of the song, coming out of my thinkpad and into my sony phones it's good. not great, but good. then, as the boss ramps it up the flaws begin to intrude upon the experience and quite frankly, spoil the mood. fish lady! ouch. as background it'll work a lot better…it's just that as any dj knows it's hard to play cuts without planting yourself in front of your box, and that means the sound is right there too. if napster wants to get the most out of this model they're going to have to increase the bitrate and smooth out the stream, otherwise people will try it a few times and pass. as a concept free is about as good as it gets in the (admittedly compromised) online music delivery business, but with just a little tweaking it can be a serious player, and in areas where users have handheld boxes running opera mini-browsers in wi-fi saturated cities it could be dominant. until then it will be an "almost there" also ran among serious listeners of music, although i’m sure many people will run this often, particularly in noisier environments like work and school. is "napster" back? no, it may never be what it was. but this company, and this service, is, right now, as close to that promise as it has ever come, and over the next few days, a lot of us will be signing on, and playing long, and thinking about what almost was. jack.

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03-05-06, 12:07 AM	#2
JackSpratts Join Date: May 2001 Location: New England Posts: 10,018	"Billy, he’s down by the railroad tracks, sittin’ low in the back seat of his cadillac, Diamond jackie, she’s so intact, she falls so softly beneath him, Jackie’s heels are stacked, billy’s got cleats on his boots, Together they’re gonna boogaloo down broadway and come back home with the Loot, It’s midnight in manhattan, this is no time to get cute, it’s a mad dog’s promenade, So walk tall, or baby don’t walk at all. Fish lady, fish lady, fish lady she baits them tenement walls, She won’t take cornerboys, ain’t got no money, and they’re so easy, I said, hey baby won’t you take my hand, walk with me down broadway, Oh mama take my arm and move with me down broadway yeah, I’m a young man and I talk real loud, yeah, baby walk real proud for you. So shake it away, so shake away your street life, shake away your city life, And hook up to the train, oh hook up to the night train, hook it up hook up to the, hook up to the train, But I know that she won’t take the train, no she won’t take the train, No she won’t take the train, no she won’t take the train She’s afraid them tracks are gonna slow her down, And when she turns this boy’ll be gone So long, sometimes you just gotta walk on. Hey vibes man, hey jazz man aw play me your serenade Any deeper blue and you'd be playin’ in your grave. Save your notes, don’t spend ’em on the blues boy, Save your notes, don’t spend ’em on the darlin’ yearlin’ sharp boy, Straight for the church note ringin’, vibes man sting a trash can Listen to your junk man, aw listen to your junk man, Listen to your junk man, oh listen to your junk man, He’s singin’, singin’, singin’, singin’. All dressed up in satin, walkin’ past the alley. Watch out for your junk man, Watch out for your junk man, Come on little girl, watch out, Watch out for your junk man, Watch out for your junk man, Watch out little girl."

04-05-06, 04:49 AM	#3
theknife my name is Ranking Fullstop Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Promontorium Tremendum Posts: 4,391	can you rip the stream?

04-05-06, 08:57 AM	#4
JackSpratts Join Date: May 2001 Location: New England Posts: 10,018	yes. inasmuch as your typical sound card recorder can handle it for breakfast. but again it's a low-bit encode and for my money (re: effort - it is free) it's not worth the hassle. another let down is their library's depth or lack thereof. rare breeds don't roam the napster server farm. i suppose this may change but when an established company excludes classics like andy pratt's self-titled chaotic masterpiece (and new england fm favorite), dan folgelberg's devastatingly personal "home free" and batdorf & rodney's eponymous '72 soft-rock demi-opus it's obvious their arrow points directly at the big forehead of middle-brow america. hey, it's working for wal*mart, but unlike brick and mortar operations virtual libraries cost near zero to stock and can and should be as expansive as possible. i mean, my hard drives have more of that stuff than theirs do. the new napster's celestial jukebox fails utterly on that score. - js.

04-05-06, 11:08 AM	#5
theknife my name is Ranking Fullstop Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Promontorium Tremendum Posts: 4,391	i wasn't aware of the changes Napster has made...can we assume thier previous business model (renting music, wasn't it?) is tanking and this is a move to stave off total collapse?

04-05-06, 02:53 PM	#6
JackSpratts Join Date: May 2001 Location: New England Posts: 10,018	pretty much, yeah, and there's a bw story in this weeks wir that echoes your observation. In all, [CEO] Gorog's latest announcements probably don't presage a coming of age for Napster, but the start of just another scary chapter as the company fights for survival. in the meantime, they're giving it all away and hoping to make it up on the volume. but you know...no special player, no infectious spyware, no personally invasive sign-up requirements. just a made up a nic and web email, and any old browser, and you've got a million tunes to click. what's not to like? this is truly a first. nobody else is offering this now, and no one ever did before. - js.