Taking on Microsoft's Zune Pass, Napster is launching a $5 monthly streaming service that includes five MP3 downloads per month.
Unlike the $14.99 per month Zune Pass service, which allows users to download an unlimited number of songs and keep 10 per month, the unlimited portion of Napster's plan is for streaming only. Still, at $5 per month, the service costs the same as five iTunes downloads, with the added benefit of browser-based music.
A press release, seen at Engadget, claims that the five downloads per month are DRM-free. It states that users can "keep forever, play, transfer and burn" those tracks as they please. The company claims the songs are "CD quality," but we all know that's not possible.
Napster, of course, only resembles the revolutionary former peer-to-peer file sharing service in name and brand only. After shutting down in 2001, Napster got a fresh start in 2003 as a legit music store. Best Buy purchased Napster in 2008.
The new service is supposed to be available "today," except the press release is dated for tomorrow. A visit to Napster's Web site this morning only shows a $12.95 unlimited streaming option and $14.95 unlimited rental-style downloads. It's not clear what will happen to the latter service, but I would expect (and hope) that Napster upgrades its "to go" plan to include several keepers per month.
Once the new plan goes live, I'll probably give it a try. I can afford $5 per month, and I've been meaning to pick up some more music anyway.
