Hammond Music

The Napster company had something of a rocky start as a place where music fans could find each other and, using the Napster software, trade their music files over the Internet.  No money was ever exchanged.  In a way, it was just like selling illegal bootleg compact discs except that nobody made any income from it.  In fact it was the free part of the model that bothered the recording artists and record labels.  Eventually Napster settled with the recording industry, with a huge financial award at Napster’s expense.  They learned their lesson well enough to completely change their business model.

Napster.com, the same company that started as just a vehicle for peer-to-peer music exchanges, has transformed itself into the holder of the largest music catalog on the entire Internet–over seven million titles and still growing.  It is still a terrific bargain, even though it is no longer free in the days when it was in hot water with the music industry.  They offer various plans, but the best all around deal is a three month membership, which can be renewed if you still haven’t satisfied your music thirst.  Three months will give you a good sense of what the service has to offer, and I strongly suspect that you’ll decide to renew.  A lot of people have maintained a membership for years.

For a remarkably low price, you receive five download credits and special bonus download credits as a subscription bonus.  Included in the plan is the reason that most people subscribe in the first place–unlimited (!) streaming music.  You can listen to the entire catalogs of your favorite artists or, if you prefer, entire albums of a variety of artists.  There are also over a thousand interactive, genre playlists.  They even have a streaming radio station.

The downloads you choose can be played on any MP3 compatible device, including a number of lesser know brands plus the extremely popular Ipod and Zune players.  In fact, if you cell phone has this option, you can even carry the music you’ve downloaded from Napster on that, as well.

With your three month membership downloads, you receive unrestricted rights, so you can put your music onto various of your players.  You can even burn a CD for yourself.

There is a huge list of musical genres.  I’m sure you’ll find your favorite on the list, unless you are like me and listen to music from a wide variety of genres.  The list is huge, but a few of the genres are jazz, pop, rock, Christian, children, comedy, country and the list goes on….

You can surround yourself with your own selected music and never repeat a song for three months for only fifteen dollars at Napster.com.  Where can you find that much pleasure at that price?

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