Signaling a step away from free file-sharing over the Internet, the head of media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG affirmed last week his company's plans to turn the popular Napster service into a fee-based system as early as this summer.
"We carried out market research among 20,000 Napster users," Bertelsmann AG Chair Thomas Middelhoff said at a Jan. 29 economic forum in Davos, Switzerland. "The willingness to pay is given."
Napster-the Internet-based program that allows users, including many Duke students, to swap digital music files-agreed to collaborate on charging fees three months ago after copyright lawsuits threatened to shut down the service altogether. Bertelsmann AG, which owns music giant BMG, is investing $50 million to remake Napster and hopefully prevent copyright infringement.
Napster officials declined to comment on the possible specifics of a fee-based system or how Napster will be able to compete with similar free services.
But the announcement of an inevitable fee for Napster use-around $15 per month according to Middelhoff-may come as a culture shock to students accustomed to free, unlimited access to music.
"I think Napster use will go down simply because students aren't use to paying for it," said freshman Elisabeth Ferlic, echoing the predictions of many students.
Although record companies may be hoping that Napster's decline translates to increased album sales, they may be disappointed that a commitment to the free-music culture that has arisen on so many college campuses. Even if Napster charges its users, students have other options-such as Gnutella, iMesh and Video.com-that are likely to attract more users when Napster begins charging.
"People will just go to other services on the Internet and download music. Napster is a free service, and that's why people use it," Divinity student April Chlumsky said. "Whenever [record labels] go after a service, another one will spring up. I wouldn't pay until all of the free services were taken away."
Some doubt that free Napster use will even go away, or that the company will be able to collect fees effectively. "I think it could still be by-passed by having a friend subscribe and then sharing the files over Instant Messenger," sophomore Kerri Petrin said. "I don't think everyone will have to subscribe."
But by getting the backing of Bertelsmann and possibly more media companies, Napster may become immune to accusations of contract violations, even if users find ways around its fee-based system. If such loopholes exist, they may also help Napster compete with other file-sharing networks.
With its 46 million registered users, Napster has a big head-start over its competitors in name recognition-something that may be increasingly important as more Internet companies consolidate. Most students, in fact, do not seem to know that alternatives exist.
"I never knew there were other services. Napster pretty much covers it all," Petrin said. "But $15 is reasonable, considering how much you spend on CDs. That's like a CD a month."
Other students, like freshman Dave Preston, see a legitimate market for Napster's planned fee-based service and will consider using it. Unless other services can match what he sees as a quality program, Preston said he would stick with Napster.
"If there were a service that was searchable, and as easy as Napster and free, I would switch. [Scour.com] was pretty good, but not as good, and they just shut down," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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