BIOS: Technology Means Business

Napster is probably the world's best known brand name when it comes to buying music online. Now a legal service, Napster subscribers can listen to music online, download an unlimited number of tracks for 'free', and manage their music with a client application. The software makes searching and browsing through Napster's online music catalogue quick and easy, and the customisable radio service is great for hunting out new bands. The software's not without is faults though. Most crippling is that the price of singles and albums are relatively expensive at 99p and £9.95, respectively. Files are also compressed to 128Kbit/s (WMA), so they're not lossless hi-fi quality, and built-in DRM technology means you'll likely have compatibility problems with your digital audio player. What's really appealing though, is that you can listen to all the latest chart singles and albums online (streamed) or download them to your computer without making any purchases, making Napster one of the best online music services going.

Pros: Easy to use; radio service; members' forum; good search tools
Cons: Tracks are relatively pricey; 128Kbit/s WMA files only

Napster UK, a subsidiary of Roxio, relaunched its online music service as a legal service on May 20. The new and revamped service reviewed here offers access to over 750,000 tracks and a wide range of value-added community features, such as Internet radio and the ability to browse other members' playlists. The service costs £9.95 per month, but there's a free light version that does away with the 'community' features and simply lets you purchase audio singles for £99p per track and albums for £9.95.

At no cost, Napster Light lets you organise your offline music collection by using the built-in ripping software in the Napster jukebox to take tracks from CDs you already own, import MP3s into your Napster Library, or transfer tracks you've bought to a portable digital audio device. Napster Light also offers you free access to Fuzz, Napster's online magazine, your own Napster Inbox, and the chance to sample the UK's official charts. Of course, subscribers have access to all of these features and more.

After downloading (10.8MB) the free Napster jukebox client software, you can then listen to one of the world's largest digital music catalogue on demand (around 750,000 tracks and growing), as well as download an unlimited number of tracks onto the hard disk of up to three PCs for free. If you then decide to purchase the tracks (removes built-in DRM technology), you will then 'own' them and can burn them to a CD, or transfer them to a portable digital audio player. If you don't buy the tracks, they will become unplayable once you stop subscribing to the Napster service.

All tracks are encoded in Microsoft's Windows Media Audio (WMA) format with built-in Digital Rights Management (DRM), a technology that allows record companies to retain control over what you do with their music. The major downside to DRM encoded tracks will only play on the latest portable digital players. Another major consideration you should ponder before ditching your CDs is that digital audio files are not covered by your home insurance policy, unlike CDs. This is because insurance companies treat stored music as a consequential loss, like a film lost with a camera.

Microsoft's latest Windows Media software contains DRM (Digital Rights Management) technology, which is designed to protect, deliver and play subscription-based digital music and video content on a wide range portable devices, including those in homes connected via wireless networks. The technology essentially gives content purchased through subscription services a digital expiration date, even when the data is transferred from a PC. It allows you, for instance, to rent a song or video, download the content onto a portable player and play it back until the rental expires. In Napster's case, audio tracks not purchased will 'expire' once you quit your subscription.

Ten interactive advert-free Napster radio stations allow you to see which song is coming next, as well as the ability to skip forward or jump back. Similar to Web sites, you can add stations to your Napster library with a single click. If you want to add a little creativity to your listening, Napster can build you your own custom radio station on-the-fly once you've selecting three songs, which it then uses to play songs it 'thinks' you may like. If you like the songs you here, you can then add them to your music library and purchase them at a later date.

Some other community features allow subscribers to browse each others' playlists and share songs with other Napster users. Subscribers can also listen to and save full-length songs taken from the past 10 years of Official Charts Company UK charts, as well as purchase and burn tracks at a discounted rate of £0.88 per song when you buy multiple tracks. The inclusion of the Official Charts Company UK charts is a really neat feature because it allows you to listen to number one hits that date back to 1995.

At the time of writing we could view, listen and buy Top 10 singles and albums back to 1960. We could also search the Top 40 Rock and Metal singles/albums, Top 100 R&B singles, Top 30 Jazz/Blues albums, as well as drill down searches to seasonal releases (spring, summer, fall and winter), the number of weeks the single/album was in the chart, its peak position, peak date and running time. Searching the library was quick and easy, even on a dial-up connection, although streaming audio requires a broadband connection for uninterrupted playback. What's not so impressive is the way Napster doesn't inform you of track size (bytes) before downloading.

With Microsoft's Windows Media Center operating system you will soon be able to access Napster's interface through your television, allowing you to use your Media Center remote control to select the music from your Napster Music Library. With your Napster-connected computer attached to your television, your stereo, or your surround sound system, Media Center will let you watch music videos or full-screen visualisations that 'pulse' to the beat of the music.

Another Napster development is the release of the first ever digital music pre-paid cards. Available through the Dixons Group, the company is hoping the cards will be purchased as gifts or for those without a credit card. Featuring the familiar Napster cat logo, the plastic pre-paid cards provide you with a unique code (scratch-off surface conceals a PIN) that you can redeem against subscriptions or purchases of tracks from Napster's online music catalogue.

The cards will be in store in Dixons from October 13, and PC World, The Link and Currys from November and priced at £14.85 for 15 tracks (99p per track), £56.95 for 60 tracks (95p per track) and £25.95 for a 3-month subscription (£8.65 per month). Napster sees the launch of pre-paid cards in the UK a major development in the evolution of the online music market that should help encourage and accelerate the online purchasing of music for people of all ages.