Battle lines have been drawn, and the consumer will be the innocent victim. It's Apple versus Microsoft all over again. This time the fight will be about how you listen to your legally downloaded music.
There have been online music stores before, but Apple was the first to offer an à la carte music service with music that people actually wanted to listen to and purchase.
It uses the MPEG-4 AAC format, which is supposed to provide superior sound in a smaller file size but still give you the option to burn the music as many times as you want.
The only kicker about the iTunes Music Store is that it is available only on Macs.
Last week Roxio announced it would be relaunching Napster on Oct. 29 as a pay service à la iTunes Music Store. It joins a bevy of other Windows-based music services like MusicMatch and buymusic.com.
I was excited about Napster's rebirth, considering I was an avid user back in the day. I just can't bring myself to use Kazaa for reasons that would fill up more space than I have here.
I started doing a little research into the new Napster music service before I downloaded the beta, and I found out that this isn't the Napster I once knew and loved.
The biggest problem with the new version is that it doesn't use the MP3 format to deliver music. Like the other Windows-based services, it uses Microsoft's Windows Media Audio - or WMA format - that could cause numerous privacy problems and possibly could prevent you from having that much control over your music.
What exactly does that mean? Well, basically, if you're using Apple's iPod, you won't be able to listen to your music purchased from Napster.
It also means that Napster can set limits in the file on how many times you can listen to it or burn it to CD.
I know what you are thinking: "iTunes Music Store sets limits on how many times you can burn purchased music, too!"
I admit it does, but it bases it on how many times you burn a playlist, not a file. You want to burn your copy of "Radar Love" 100 times? Go ahead, but just move it to a different playlist every so often.
Also, don't try using these music services on campus because for some reason ASU IT considers these services to be file-sharing devices like Kazaa or Limewire and has restricted the use of them. In other words, it won't let you download the music you have purchased legally.
I understand the idea of restricting what is essentially an illegal action, but do we have to get permission to legally purchase the music, too?
So, if you live or work on campus and haven't been able to download that copy of "Hurt" by Johnny Cash you purchased from any of the music services, I propose you call up ASU IT at (480) 965-6500 and tell them that you want your 99 cents back.
If more people do this, maybe ASU IT will open up access to the legal music services.
Ryan Eilders is the webmaster of the Web Devil. Share your music with him at ryan.eilders@asu.edu.
