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Music Media The Almighty Buck The Internet

Napster and Best Buy Joining Forces 210

Posted by CowboyNeal from the stack-and-attack dept.
Ruds writes "Best Buy will market a music service co-branded with Napster. Napster will give Best Buy stock valued up to $10 million, and they'll share marketing costs. From the story: 'The retail chain will feature Napster products in its brick-and-mortar stores and demonstrate the service through interactive kiosks throughout the nation. Napster will also support Best Buy's artist promotions.'"
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Napster and Best Buy Joining Forces More

Napster and Best Buy Joining Forces

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  • Napster and Best Buy Joining Forces... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 24, 2004 @10:54PM (#9524716)
    ...to create "Best Napster".

    • Re:Napster and Best Buy Joining Forces... (Score:5, Informative)

      by davebarnes ( 158106 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @11:33PM (#9524929)
      What can I say, but www.allofmp3.com

      Download songs in your choise of format AND enoding bit rate.

      All for 3 cents per song.

      And, it is legal (in Russia). ,dave

      P.S. My daughter (the 18 year old iPod junkie) thinks it is great.
      • I really love allofmp3..
        However the Sydney Morning Herald has this to offer http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/17/10846461 14240.html
        Suggesting its not legal even in russia.
        Otoh this MIPI seems like a FUD spreading group
        so who really knows?

        • Well (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Kjella ( 173770 )
          If it's so obviously illegal, why is it still up? If they're that certain this is illegal, why not get a legal injunction? It's not like the RIAA couldn't post the bond. Even in Russia there's a legal system (particularly if you have money, bleh, but that's something the RIAA do).

          The RIAA claimed Napster was illegal. They were proven right. The RIAA claimed KaZaA was illegal. They were proven wrong. Until they actually take it to court, it is just a claim. Anyone can make a claim. SCO can make a claim agai
      • Download songs in your choise of format AND enoding bit rate.

        All for 3 cents per song.

        Not only does Best Buy and Napster have the price too high, they are selling a product in a format that I can't use. My living room DVD, my car indash MP3, and my portable MP3 are all incompatible with DRM files of any format and bitrate. Don't sell me a product I can't take with me.
        Now if they can get www.allofmp3.com to get a few mirrors in the US and Canada, then there would be a usable product and a reasonable p
    • I saw Napster stuff on the shelves in there a couple days ago...made no sense to me then, and even less now. It was good, now its gone, let the brand die for gods sake.

      • Re:Old News. (Score:5, Informative)

        by racermd ( 314140 ) on Friday June 25, 2004 @12:33AM (#9525187)
        I saw Napster stuff on the shelves in there a couple days ago...made no sense to me then, and even less now. It was good, now its gone, let the brand die for gods sake.

        Actually, this might be different than what you saw. The intention here is that Napster and Best Buy will be marketing music together, instead of idependently. This is interesting for a number of reasons:

        1: Napster is currently in a rather weak position when it comes to promotion. Let's face it, their credibility is zilch with the fickle internet-enabled teens and early-twenty-somethings. Corporate brass, aka "Blue-Haired's", don't sway so easily and still see the Napster name as something the kids are into. This alone is dangerous territory. (And I agree with you, the Napster brand should just be allowed to die on it's own.) And this younger crowd is where roughly 80% of the music industry gets their paycheck.

        2: Best Buy sells music as a loss leader to get people in the stores to buy other things, mainly product accessories where margins are at their highest. This loss leader approach is a proven, successful marketing technique, especially for Best Buy.

        The Best Buy/Napster deal makes sense due to one last interesting item:

        3: Best Buy typically buys proven, successful solutions to expand their business, instead of developing anything in-house. I cite Geek Squad as my prime example, and there are plenty of others if someone else decides to do the rest of my homework for me.

        But how Best Buy can see Napster as a successful entity is beyond me. Perhaps they see value into bringing it under it's own umbrella of operations and making it work for them instead of with them. Direct control would certainly be easier, which might just be what Best Buy is aiming for.

        Otherwise, I think Best Buy got wound up stuck with some magic beans...

        • Re:Old News. (Score:3, Insightful)

          by SteveZep ( 766828 )

          2: Best Buy sells music as a loss leader to get people in the stores to buy other things, mainly product accessories where margins are at their highest. This loss leader approach is a proven, successful marketing technique, especially for Best Buy.

          If you're correct about this, and I'm sure you are, the deal with Napster makes no sense at all. One of the main advantages of online music services is that you can download music from the comfort of your own home without having to make those pesky trips to the

          • You still need something to play the music on. That's more expensive than the music itself, takes up far less shelf space, and has a higher margin.
        • 2: Best Buy sells music as a loss leader to get people in the stores to buy other things, mainly product accessories where margins are at their highest. This loss leader approach is a proven, successful marketing technique, especially for Best Buy.
          correction: Best Buy sells a select few cd's at... a loss... to get people in the stores.

          you'll find $18 - $22 dollar cd in best buy, just like in any other retailer

        • 2: Best Buy sells music as a loss leader to get people in the stores to buy other things, mainly product accessories where margins are at their highest. This loss leader approach is a proven, successful marketing technique, especially for Best Buy.

          Boy, got that one right. I was in to buy the deal they had on a Linksys router. Decided to pick up some network cables to plug it in... About fell over from sticker shock. (a set of 4 cables were about the same price as the router) Left them on the shelf and w
      • I saw Napster stuff on the shelves in there a couple days ago...made no sense to me then, and even less now. It was good, now its gone, let the brand die for gods sake.

        You've obviously never tried the new style Napster.

  • Online Music (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 24, 2004 @10:54PM (#9524719)
    It's amazing how agressive the online music selling business is getting, companies teaming up with each other to get that advantage over their rivals etc.
    My only problem with them all is they're US based. I realise of course this is where the major market appeal is, it does mean however the rest of us end up having to resort to pirated music if we want to get the latest and greatest online.

    Here's hoping that soon iTunes and all the other online music stores will soon be available the world over. License rights I guess will be the biggest hurdle to this though.

  • Mac (Score:4, Interesting)

    by mpost4 ( 115369 ) * on Thursday June 24, 2004 @10:54PM (#9524720) Homepage Journal
    What about mac's, I use my mac for all my music, so I can not use their service, and I dont think that they support iPod's (or the other way around) No thanks, just like the sony one, I will not use it, infact the other day I got a code for the sony one (bigmac) that I asked if any one wanted, no one wanted it so I just trashed it. ( Of cource I do not buy sony products since they don't us SD cards and only use the stupid memory stick BS)

  • Rhapsody? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ErichTheWebGuy ( 745925 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @10:55PM (#9524724) Homepage
    BestBuy used to partner with Rhapsody. Apparently that didn't last long. Anyone know what happened? Not that I really care, Rhapsody and Real Networks stuff are pretty crappy anyway...

    • Re:Rhapsody? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Peyna ( 14792 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @10:57PM (#9524732) Homepage
      We've also had Napster and Rhapsody products in the store; but we used Rhapsody on all of the store kiosks. More than likely all this means is that we'll be using Napster instead of Rhapsody on our kiosks in the stores.

    • Re:Rhapsody? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by gcaseye6677 ( 694805 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @11:13PM (#9524839)
      It would only be fitting for Best Buy to use Real Player for this service. 2 companies that don't give a crap about their customers would go together very well. Best Buy is already known for teaming up with less reputable business partners, such as Household Bank [cardoffers.com] for the Best Buy credit card. As a general rule, I avoid Best Buy and everything they own/operate. They have shown many times that they hold the customer in very low regard, so I will always shop somewhere else now, even if I have to pay a little more.

      • Re:Rhapsody? (Score:2, Insightful)

        by BobPaul ( 710574 ) *
        Or a little less, as it usually is...

        It depends on where you live. In the more populated areas, the stores are bigger, but the reps don't know jack. In the smaller places that are just big enough to have a best buy, the reps seem to be a little better trained, but they seem to have less stock (smaller store..)

        I buy all of my stuff online, but it's sometimes nice to talk to a rep and make them unlock the toys so you can play with them before you purchase online ;)
        • You are right about that. A Best Buy went in my home town of Lawrence, KS. About a population of 50K when the students are in town, and about 20 - 30K when they're not.

          I was home over Christmas and needed a simple IDE cable to fix my sisters computer. I went there looking for one, and the kid there gave me the name of a new comptuer store to go to because 'buying a cable here is for people who don't know what they're doing and have extra money'

          I laughed, thanked him, and saved myself $19. She didn't
    • Well, I've never tried it, but from the Real website, Rhapsody looks like a pretty sweet deal. $10/month for unlimited user-programmable radio from a huge collection of music, plus 79c/song burning. If you buy a lot of music, that could work out to be cheaper than iTunes, and you get the radio, too.

  • BestBuy takes another stab (Score:5, Insightful)

    by fname ( 199759 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @10:58PM (#9524739) Journal
    Well, maybe this will work better than the last investment in music downloading (what the hell was the name of that). But honestly, I don't see BestBuy doing much with this. I've never quite understood the appeal of retail (read: brick & mortar) tie-in with downloading services. Buying pre-paid cards may be nice, but that seems like a better business for 7-11, Starbucks or supermarkets. I suppose they'll start giving away CDs with Napster software, but I think the novelty/appeal of that wore off a long time ago, especially for broadband users (download market) who can easily download software from the net.

    On the whole, it can't hurt Napster, but I fail to see how this is going to help them very much. Maybe I'm too skeptical, but overall this seems fairly pointless.

    • Re:BestBuy takes another stab (Score:4, Informative)

      by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Thursday June 24, 2004 @11:10PM (#9524822)
      Target already sells a line of Napster-branded music accessories such as CDs and CD wallets along with the gift cards. I suspect that whole product line is coming to a Best Buy near you too.

      Related topic: Is there any known quality difference between the various brands of CDs... or do they all do equally as well?

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • "Buying pre-paid cards may be nice, but that seems like a better business for 7-11, Starbucks or supermarkets."

      Thought you might find it interesting that Best Buy sells Napster branded MP3 players.

  • Really the "Best Buy"? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by dvduval ( 774940 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @10:58PM (#9524740)
    So the question is... Is Napster the "Best Buy" when is comes to online music? Why not just install some kiosks with a CD Burner and an emule installation? It would do wonders for the sale of blank media.

  • This is so sad... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by k4_pacific ( 736911 ) <`moc.oohay' `ta' `cificap_4k'> on Thursday June 24, 2004 @10:59PM (#9524743) Homepage Journal
    I remember back when Napster was still cool. I was at a party and all the music was downloaded illegally (wasnt my house, I'm not liable la la la la). Anyway, the guy had a fast internet connection so we could have pretty much play any song we wanted on demand. Kinda miss that. At one point it turned into sort of a one-ups-manship of trying to find and download increasingly obscure songs.
    • Have you seen those commericals for Napster? My god.........LAME LAME LAME


      Yeah, and now you have a "subscription" service. Hooking you in and keeping you to access songs.....

    • "I remember back when Napster was still cool. I was at a party and all the music was downloaded illegally (wasnt my house, I'm not liable la la la la). Anyway, the guy had a fast internet connection so we could have pretty much play any song we wanted on demand. At one point it turned into sort of a one-ups-manship of trying to find and download increasingly obscure songs."

      Yeah, I remember! Nearly every comedy song labeled as being sung by Weird Al Yankovic... Low bit-rate encoding... That high-pitched sq

      • You got in on it too late, then.

        Once the RIAA really caught wind of what was going on they started flooding it with "cuckoo eggs" [hand-2-mouth.com]. Before that, most of the files were intact (although they were at 128kbits. Broadband wasn't so common...)

    • Anyway, the guy had a fast internet connection so we could have pretty much play any song we wanted on demand. Kinda miss that

      Uhm...isn't that what Napster is offering now? $10/month and you can stream any of their songs?

      • Re:This is so sad... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by pavon ( 30274 ) on Friday June 25, 2004 @02:09AM (#9525586)
        You missed the "trying to find and download increasingly obscure songs". That's why I used napster back in the day. I always have and always will buy the music I like. But napster was an awesome place to find b-sides, live music, and other rare music from your favorite artists. While you were at it, you could browse the music collection of the people you were downloading from and discover new bands. About 1/4 of the albums I bought during that period were from bands I discovered on napster. Lastly it allowed for situation like he mentioned where you partying at 3 in the morning and have the spontaneous desire to listen to some random song that you haven't heard in years.

        I haven't used any filesharing programs since before napster was shut down (I have always obeyed the spirit of the law, but as I have become more outspoken about certain things I've decided to also obey the letter of the law, lest people think me a hypocrite). I must say that none of the new download services fill needs at all. Granted, I am not representitive of the filesharing population, seeing as last time I heard the most popular downloads were fifty cent and britney spears. But fortunately, artists are becoming more tech savy, and most now have music samples on thier websites, and there are some interesting music sites spouting up on the web, but none of them offer anything like what napster was.

  • Best Buy BAD!!!!! (Score:5, Funny)

    by elasticwings ( 758452 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @11:00PM (#9524753)
    So will the Metallicops be stopping by the local Best Buy to beat up fans in the near future?

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @11:00PM (#9524754)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re:anyone else think (Score:2, Informative)

      by darnoc ( 762200 )
      Not particularly sure myself why Best Buy even cares for iPods. They only make around $20 on an iPod sale anyway so there isn't much money in the units. Granted if you attached a $40 product replacement plan or a $50 service plan that makes the company a little more money, but the profit margins are still quite slim.
      • They also carry all the accessories though, and probably make a pretty penny from them - if they stopped carrying the iPod it would look odd to have the accessories there alone.

        Also, there's the factor of not having one particularily cool tech gadget - Best Buy likes to have as many of the best-selling gadgets as possible as it helps define the market segment they live it. If they ceased selling iPods it would sort of mark a trend to them becoming more like the Wal-Mart of home electronics rather than Tar

  • Napster is reaching for corporate partnerships (Score:5, Insightful)

    by bobhagopian ( 681765 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @11:00PM (#9524756)
    Best Buy isn't the first joint venture that Napster has undertaken. Samsung and Napster teamed up to design an mp3 player [samsung.com] around the Napster download service.

    It seems as though Napster doesn't have much faith in their ability to survive. These corporate sponsorships provide companies such as Best Buy and Samsung an interest in Napster's well-being. It's definitely a far cry from the heyday of Napster, when it couldn't keep users away.

  • Napster and the Proverbial Straws (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Reenigne ( 779308 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @11:00PM (#9524759)
    Napster is getting desperate now. First they offer to give away players, now they wish to give away stock. I can't see this stock going anywhere but down. These new 'plans' will not bring the needed cash in. (Too long term too many bills to pay) The online music industry is a market that has no room for napster any more. I for one am saddened by this, napster allowed me to broaden my music tastes.
  • When they started doing Rhapsody, I had about 5 employees come up to me one day and try to sell me the service. I don't mean just hawk it. No. I mean trying to offer me demos, explaining to me what the service was, etc. Every time I'm in best buy, I have no less than 6 people ask me if I need help with something. While I appreciate the attentitiveness to an extent, it is a little over the top. Now, they'll be trying to hawk Napster to me. I love the store and I like shopping there but I just want to be left alone while I'm there. You have HUGE signs saying "customer service" and those distictly blue shirts. If I need you, I'll find you.

    Lately it has been magazines. "Oh. You purchased a CD. You are entitled to 6 months free of Entertainment Weekly or People!"

    No. No I'm not.

    And am I the only one that thinks that a reciept that is no less than a foot and a half long for a single CD purchase is a little extreme? /rant
    • I mean trying to offer me demos, explaining to me what the service was, etc. Every time I'm in best buy, I have no less than 6 people ask me if I need help with something.

      I wonder if they get paid by commision?

      No offense but I don't frequent Best Buy and it kinda gives me the creeps, and the DVDs are too expensive from what I remember.

      However, I'd like to take a test ride just to see what is available on the service. I wouldn't actually buy it because you probably have to install their software to do
      • BestBuy doesn't use commision, but Radio Shack does. BestBuy doesn't really have a "Sell More Product" motivation. They have a "Push our shitty 'service plan'" motivation. Some BB's won't sell you the product unless you get the "service plan". The person who sells the most of their crappy service plans gets a bonus of some kind. I applied for a job there and when I learned all the stuff that goes on "behind the scenes" I just stood up and left.
    • I was shopping in to get my dad something at a Circuit City and I knew what I wanted. I walked fast and no less than 2 employees asked me if I had any questions. I stood there for 2 minutes comparing brands, prices and features, 2 different employees came by and asked me again and just stood there watching me chose.

      At the same store, later that day... I went to that same store with this woman I was fixing her computer, she had to write a check. I was getting a copy of Windows XP (70 year old women don'
    • Every time I'm in best buy, I have no less than 6 people ask me if I need help with something.

      I am amazed at this...I have been to Best Buy 3 times, all three times, I have come very close to leaping out from behind giant tv's and tackling someone to get a little help. I finally decided the craptasticly awful service wasn't worth anything, and went else where. It is not even convenient if you do not have questions, then you grab what you want...and wait in line.

    • You so nailed it. I seriously avoid people in places like Best Buy. "Can I help you?" More like can I help them. The only reason they have the job is because they initiate every conversation so it looks like their working (to be fair, they are trying). One store I walked into lately (it wasn't a best buy) was very small-- about the size of say, the electronics department at walmart. There were at least eight sales reps standing around, and a couple customers. I tried to do some quick math to figure out how they could possibly make money but I lost interest (trying to get out of the store as fast as possible).

      If I need help, I'll ask. If you can replace a job with a bunch of inanimate signs then from a practicality standpoint I'd say do it. I hate to say fire people who might be trying but it just seems like they try to hard. Sales reps should not be overachievers. I would rather they are bitter and hostile to me. Hell I'd rather they smell bad. Actually scratch. The majority of sales reps are already overly friendly, bitter and hostile. Also most can't afford the deodorant that they so say you need without trying to insult you (until you say no). Actually at this point I'm just rambling so if you haven't hit the back button on your browser yet we might as well have a conversation. I regret to inform you that it will be quite one way but I have a feeling you already knew this. Well anyway as some background I grew up in Maine in a small town. The university was the lifeblood of the area and because of it we had a downtown with more restaurants than our town was worth. The only fast food to speak of is Subway which isn't strictly unhealthy, but rather has the feeling of being in a dentist's office. That is, a dentist's office with roast beef and a cute petite female behind the counter. This has caught me as quite odd. Every cute petite female I knew in high school has worked at a subway and virtually every subway I go to has a cute petite female behind the counter. I don't know if they're trying to tell me that I'll turn into a cute petite female if I eat their subs. I certainly hope not because I don't have nearly enough experience putting on makeup. The extent of that being deodorant, which I see as a polish for the olfactory sense. The funny thing about that word is you wonder what factory the guy had in mind who named it. Obviously some factory smelled really bad and needed some cleaning. The problem with cleaning things is that bristles on brushes are far too weak to get any real scrubbing down except for the toilet brush. I think many people would have an aversion to using the toilet brush on anything but the toilet, however I think they could be convinced otherwise simply by buying two toilet brushes and using only one on the toilet, and using the other on everything else needed. This brings me back to the guinea pigs I used to own. I thought their cage was too small so I gave them free range over a large section of tiled floor. The floor was white before the guinea pigs were there and it's now a rich musky yellow color/smell. I can't think of any makeup that will work on that floor as bleach failed it quite easily. I used enough bleach to kill a medium sized animal. I know that this is the amount I used because I consider myself a medium sized animal and I'd be quite dead if I stayed in the room. That's why I left the room which was nice because I could go out doors. Being from Maine we have a large forest in the back and a brook to play in. It's not deep enough to swim but the rocks are there so you can sure give yourself a bad time. During the spring the water would be very strong from all the melting snow which is exactly the kind of water you do not want to fall in, and so I did. Actually twice: once in the winter, once in the spring. All I can remember about the spring incident is that I was wearing a sweater. The thing about sweaters is that chewing on them gives me chills all over. I hate it so much but I just cannot resist the urge to take a bite. It's such a horrible feeling and to top it all off my sweater might now be ripped or at the very least wet. Wet was exactly my concern after falling into the water.

      Yup.
      • You so nailed it. I seriously avoid people in places like Best Buy. "Can I help you?" More like can I help them. I think regardless of whether you need help or not you should be polite. They are just trying to do what their told. It bothers me that some people act like they own the place and are rude.
    • Every time I'm in best buy, I have no less than 6 people ask me if I need help with something. While I appreciate the attentitiveness to an extent, it is a little over the top.

      I hear ya. When i worked in retail, that sort of attention usually meant that we thought you were shoplifting. That's why I don't appreciate that sort of attention to my every need, and why I walk out after the 4th cheerful, helpful employee that WON'T LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!!! and my business goes elsewhere.
    • Haha, I feel for you. I worked at Best Buy during the holiday season to make a little money, and I tried to avoid pushing Rhapsody or Netflix on people whenever I could, only because I know how annoying it can be. Unfortunately, the sales managers really get on your case about that sort of thing; same goes with accessories and the like.

      When it came to DVDs, music CDs, and games, I typically didn't approach a customer to ask if they required assistance, unless it was a clueless looking mom who you just kne

    • When they started doing Rhapsody, I had about 5 employees come up to me one day and try to sell me the service. I don't mean just hawk it. No. I mean trying to offer me demos, explaining to me what the service was, etc.

      I had a similar experience at the local Best Buy when they started in on Rhapsody. The employees were pushing serious FUD on me, too -- telling me that KaZaa or other Rhapsody alternatives would damage my computer permanently and most likely rape my dog.

      You get a similar experience wi
  • Napster has sure had a rough time since they started up many years go. Started up with their free service which was probably the most loved at the time. After a while, they basically got shut down by all the artists that didn't realize that their music was impossible to stop being spread over the internet. They then started back up with their pay service, which got knocked out by Apple's iTunes service. Now, they're joining Best-Buy! I don't know, maybe this is a repeat of the past? Who knows!

  • napster's evolution (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Man in Spandex ( 775950 ) <prsn DOT kev AT gmail DOT com> on Thursday June 24, 2004 @11:05PM (#9524788)
    So First, we had Napster comming back. Then they decided to give away free mp3 players for registered users IIRC and now partnership with one of the biggest retailers in north america? Yes They really don't like iTunes do they? heh. An Alliance with BestBuy will surely boost popularity among average joes but if they really want to hurt the iTunes Music Store, they have to offer something special to their customers.

    What I'd like to see from these music stores is something unique in it's kind. Maybe some kind offer which says "Buy 65% of the songs of any album and get the album shipped for free!" Or I donno I can think of many other special offers but I guess that would make em lose that $1 which is so precious for them... damn capitalists
  • So I want to buy a song from napster (mp3 lets just say)... so I go into a store to buy said song... and it comes on a little circle shaped disc... oh wait, isn't that like buying from a record store? Damn it, looks like I've just bought a CD with a new fancy name and a bit lower price but alot less tracks..

  • W00t! Napster is for da people! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by coupland ( 160334 ) * <dchaseNO@SPAMhotmail.com> on Thursday June 24, 2004 @11:06PM (#9524793) Journal

    Funny to see the suits manipulating a "brand" that used to stand for individuality and defiance. Napster has been made the RIAA's bitch and now they want to trot out the name -- shamed and debased -- as some sort of hip corporate brand.

    Oooo, "Napster teams with Best Buy." Wow, surely Best Buy is cool and if you want to be an individual you need to head on over to your local box store and buy some Sony / BestBuy / Microsoft / PepsiCo product.

    Personally, I think if you're smart you'll ignore everything with the "Napster" label altogether. And if you're really a rebel, try scratching "Best Buy" off the list too. Now that, would be cool...

  • Bye bye real... (Score:4, Informative)

    by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Thursday June 24, 2004 @11:07PM (#9524798)
    Presently, Best Buy stores are marketing Real Rhapsody in their stores and online... they mention online that they offer Napster 15-song gift cards for $14.85 (99 cents times 15) but they can't sell those online.

    I have a feeling that one of the side terms of this new deal is that the other deal isn't gonna get renewed.

  • PSP (Score:5, Funny)

    by WorkEmail ( 707052 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @11:08PM (#9524806)
    I wonder if when you download a song you will get 1,000 pop-ups asking you to but a Performance Service plan in case your mp3's ever get erased or damaged.

  • 2 for 1 Napster cards (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 24, 2004 @11:09PM (#9524814)
    I hear that in July a lot of retailers that currently sell Napster cards are going to be selling them 2-for-1.. that's probably not too bad a deal. $15 for 30 songs.. sure beats buying a CD!

  • Longer Checkout Times (Score:5, Funny)

    by sjb2016 ( 514986 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @11:15PM (#9524851)
    Best Buy Clerk: Thanks for shopping with us today. Would you like to sign up for a Sports Illustrated or Entertainment Weekly Subscription with your Napster purchase? Perhaps sign up for Rhapsody as well?

    Customer: I'm not interested.

    Clerk: You know for just $.45 you can purchase an extended warranty on your Napster download. It cover's against damage caused by power surges, unlike Naptster's own warranty.

    Customer: Not interested.

    Clerk: Oh, it looks like we're actually out of that song, sorry.

  • best buy sucks (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 24, 2004 @11:15PM (#9524853)
    It's so fun trying to shop there.. all you hear is *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*, courtesy of the idiots in car audio.
    • It's so fun trying to shop there.. all you hear is *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*, courtesy of the idiots in car audio.

      You can both drown it out, and really confuse people by playing Japanese Noise Artists instead.
    • Teh best (and I don't say I ever did it) is to make a CD that consists of 5 minutes of silence, and the something like "Bitch School" or "Hell's Bells". Or even better, grab one of their "Best Buy Demo CDs" and "edit" it.

      Find the control deck. One deck is usually running all the speakers, subs, etc.

      Put your CD in. You now have 5 minutes to turn up the volume, and turn on as many speakers as you can. It is possible to get more than one pair at a time to turn on with selective glue or tape application.

      Now
  • When I'm out shopping in retail outlets, I can drown out sales people and muzak of Best Buy with my iPod.

    I've grown fond of not having to pay attention to the part timers there pestering me if I know what a wireless router's for, or if I need 6 years of free magazines.

    Now I have another sales pitch to ignore from Best Buy.

    So far, I've ignored:
    MSN
    Real Rhapsody
    Entertainment Weekly
    Time
    Best Buy Credit Cards
    Alienware Systems
    The Rolling Stones

    now: Napster!

    Best Buy: The corporate whores of consumer electronic
  • would ever value "napster"at 10 million

    the only value they have is the name

  • Is it just me??? (Score:5, Funny)

    by gbulmash ( 688770 ) * <semi_famous@yah o o . c om> on Thursday June 24, 2004 @11:37PM (#9524949) Homepage Journal
    Every time I hear a story about Napster, I feel really sorry for the deluded marketing executives who think it has any sort of "cred" anymore.

    It used to be about sharing, now it's about selling. Not that selling is a bad thing or that sharing is a good thing. It's just that the two are very opposite in consumer's minds, yet there are these dumbass MBA's who somehow think that just branding something with the Napster name will make it cool, so they bought the name.

    If you could buy cool, Bill Gates would be The Fonz.

    - Greg

    • >If you could buy cool, Bill Gates would be The >Fonz.

      An over the hill mainstream pseudo-rebel from the previous generation? Sounds more like Steve Jobs.

  • Napster in Supermarkets (Score:4, Informative)

    by Talking Toaster ( 695539 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @11:44PM (#9524979)
    Is this really such a big deal?

    I've seen Napster gift cards in a local supermarket chain. [fredmeyer.com] OK they cell other stuff, kinda like a nice Target, but there are a lot of them in the Northwest.

    And, some have already questioned that the whole of Napster is worth $10 million dollars, but why would they pay that much for just selling little cards that give you codes to download stuff?

    Doesn't seem too much different from pre-paid long distance cards to me.

    Anyone seen these cards in other stores?

    I guess it is incentive to give customers the Hard Sell.
  • ...the new names of co-branded State Farm Insurance plans: bin Laden (Life), Arafat (Home Owner), Lady D. (Car), etc.
  • The only trouble with the Napster/Best Buy deal is that it is essentially still attached to the 1940's business model of "having media." That's almost impossible when the alternative [acquisitionx.com] is convenient, ubiquitous and free.

    Sponsored music [accesshollywood.com]...that's the key! Steve Winwood music and video sponsored by NBC and AccessHollywood. We get free tunes and video, they get people seeing them support a new concept, and Winwood gets his music out there and sells concert tickets. Everyone wins, and the lawyers are back to
  • This is horribly off-topic, so mod it down, but I had to rant about this for a bit. Best Buy used to have a 'local music' section but killed it for more blonde singdancers. They supported bands from here until the endcap was needed for mousepads.

    1st Ave just lost the guy who's been running the club for the last 30 years [startribune.com]. This is one of the last nails in the coffin of indy music in Minneapolis, and probably MN. Sure, bands are still going to play and write, but the locales have dwindled over the years. One of the few bars left with any integrity is the 400 Club in Mpls.

    I've watched the slow dissolution of original music in MN for the last 5-10 years, and the clubs that host them replaced with Clear Channel owned properties and cover band havens.

    I don't buy music from Best Buy, I don't support Clear Channel, and I ain't gonna be picking up any songs from Napster.

    But someone will.

  • Reading the description of their service at napster.com, they almost have it right, but not quite.

    I've bought on CD most of the music I want to permanently own, so am not all that interested in Napster's options to buy music (same goes for iTunes).

    Napster's "stream any of 700k tracks for a flat $10/month" plan looks nice. It would be a way to listen to all that music that I don't feel like buying, but would like to occasionally listen to, and would be a great way to find new music.

    However, I want to

  • Missing the point here???? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by l0ungeb0y ( 442022 ) on Friday June 25, 2004 @12:54AM (#9525310) Homepage Journal
    This deal makes absolutely no sense.
    Why can't retailers get out of the "tangible object" mode and realize that it's bits that are being sold not a product that needs a bunch of packaging.

    What I'd like to see is an obitquitous KIOSK equipted with touchscreen, a mag-card reader and USB/USB2/Firewire cables.
    User walks up, browses the online store via the touchscreen, makes a shopping cart and swipes their credit card to copy songs to a /temp/$user directory. User is prompted that their files are ready and to attach their MP3 player via one of the available cables and transfer their files over. As another option, blank CD's could be available in a handy vending machin for $.50 a pop and the KIOSK equipted with a slotloading CD Burner.

    The point is, this is something that makes no sense for bestbuy, but makes perfect sense for a company who wants to build and market a network of KIOSKS that could be installed at 7-11, blockbuster, Kinkos, Malls and well... just about anywhere that you could stick one.

  • switcho-chango (Score:4, Informative)

    by coeus_theoi ( 674844 ) <missing_glassesNO@SPAMyahoo.com> on Friday June 25, 2004 @01:15AM (#9525408) Homepage
    I worked for Best Buy less than 3 months ago for about a year in the PCHO(that's personal computer, home office to you outsiders)/Software department. Those little Napster demo disks and subscription kiosks have been in most Best Buy stores since before Thanksgiving, 2003. We employees were briefed on the future of the "BestNap" alliance way back then and even had a Napster rep visit several times, handing out Napster demo subscriptions, nifty little badges, keychains and necklaces advetising Napster. The usual fare brought to us by reps, nothing different. The only oddity was the fact that I began my internet career upon exposure to Napster at its very beginning as a fringe underground utility only to see it represented at my job by a slick gentleman in a suit and tie!!!

  • The fad is over the brand is tarnished (Score:5, Insightful)

    by StateOfTheUnion ( 762194 ) on Friday June 25, 2004 @03:32AM (#9525781) Homepage
    It surprises me that out of touch execs would think that Napster still has marketing cache, street cred, or other intangible brand value that would cause investors to back it . . .

    Orginally napster depended on the size of its marketshare to succeed . . . like the telephone, the more phones hooked up to the network, the more valuable the network became (the potential to call more and different people and businesses), at its peak, napster was by far the biggest network of its kind (even the only network of its kind) . . . like microsoft on the desktop with a lot of the evil removed (or focused at the RIAA depending on how one looks at it)

    Napster no longer has its network . . . it had been defunct for a long time, it has been trying to reinvent itself on exactly the business model that it was working against . . . but most importantly, its no longer the big kid on the block. Its not the biggest, its not the most popular, and in the selling of songs online, it certainly does not have the brand recognition of being a leader (currently that goes to Apple and the ipod.). Napster is now a follower, not a leader and the brand tarnished . . . napster is the sellout, they are the ones that lost the lawsuit . . . They were even bought by one of the major labels. Their rebellious market credibility was gone a long time ago.

    Why is BestBuy partnering with them? Perhaps to compete with WalMart. Successful or not, BestBuy cannot afford to let WalMart get a beachhead in the higher end consumer electronics market through online music sales . . . Basically, BestBuy is doing this because they have to in order to protect their marketshare from the big kid on the block with the virtually infinite spending account.

    Where does this leave Napster . . . somewhere between the pet rock, beanie babies, and mood rings, after the fad was here and gone.

  • Remind me... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Neualiluj ( 681817 )
    ...of this (unrelated) strip [penny-arcade.com].

  • Three Competitors (Score:2, Interesting)

    by darnoc ( 762200 )
    On another note it is interesting to note that Best Buy considers their three main competitors Dell Computers, eBay, and Wal-Mart. In their mind Circuit City, Ultimate Electronics, Tweet and whoever else are relics of the past. I am intrigued to see what Best Buy will do to compete against these companies. Personally I doubt they have any chance against the number one computer retailer, the world's garage sale and the largest retailer in the world, period. Should be an interesting battle.
  • Yeah, I know, they want their joke back too ...

  • Rock solid combo! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Zygote-IC- ( 512412 ) on Friday June 25, 2004 @07:42AM (#9526358) Homepage
    These partnerships always work wonders!

    Remember Circuit City and DIVX?
  • Napster will also support Best Buy's artist promotions.

    There's a phrase I'm just not comfortable hearing.

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