Napster is the first online music service to offer pre-pay cards in retailers – just the Dixons’ Group for now, which includes Dixons, Currys, The Link and PC World, according to TechDigest.
Cards cost £14.95 for 15 tracks, £56.95 for 60 tracks and £25.95 for a 3-month subscription.
There’s also an interesting article here on Intelle-Card News about the next big thing in pre-pay, that’s worth a read.
It identifies ringtone, games, as well as music as hot areas – iTunes has already launched via Target in the US, as well as Napster, Rhapsody and MusicMatch. However, the author theorises that too many free competitors are standing in the way of success. If this is true, this isn’t going to change any time soon, so maybe the market isn’t going to be the goldmine it’s expected to be.
In fact, the one possible effect of the RIAA action in the US is to dissuade people from using Kazaa – it was knocked off it’s number one slot in the free download market this month by eDonkey. The reason, it’s speculated, was that all RIAA’s legal actions were against Kazaa users. So by moving services, users are simply lessening the chances of getting victimized – sorry – sued by the record industry trying to protect their interests.
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