Napster: “It’s Coming Back”

I never guessed that Napster would be reborn, but it is happening, and 2.0 sounds better than ever. Now owned by Roxio, Napster 2.0 will boast a 500,000 track library, which will of course grow as time progresses, each available for individual download, or through a “monthly subscription to Internet radio.” The available music will come from all five major record labels plus a number of independent labels.

It will most likely become the top legal music downloading program for the PC because it will outdo BuyMusic.com, which I have only heard bad things about, and it is known for being “the first.” The only question is, how compatible will it be with Apple’s iPod, the hottest-selling MP3 player on the market? Fact is, it probably won’t be… at least not at first, which means that if Apple gets iTunes for Windows out soon enough, they could outdo Napster and become the number one music downloading program across both the Mac and the Windows platform.

Looks like we’ll all have to wait and see!

By the way, check out Napster’s animations. They’re super clever, and give a hint of the attitude that Napster is taking on with the launch of 2.0.