Napster said this week it now has 410,000 subscribers, though it didn’t provide a breakdown of subs to its regular streaming service versus Napster To Go, which lets users transfer music to compatible portable players.
The Register rightly highlights Napster CEO Chris Gorog’s interesting statement, “We were also delighted to see that our new Napster To Go subscribers exhibited a strong appetite for purchasing pay-per-download music as well.” You’d be inclined to think he’s saying that users of the To Go service are also paying per song to download some songs they want to permantly own. If that’s the case, what are the implications for Napster and other subscription services?
It could indicate that users see through Napster’s advertising that compares the price to fill an iPod with 10,000 songs from iTunes versus its $15 a month, which could be a concern for the company and others with similar offerings. Or, it could be that users are happy to pay for the subscription services almost as a radio or browsing function, then buying those songs they want to keep. This isn’t that crazy an idea — after all, radio is free, but people still buy CDs. Even services like Launchcast and satellite radio that charge have users that buy music.
But one other worry for the company is that users are evidently sharing passwords to cut down on monthly costs — a sign that prices are too high, or just kids being kids?
—–>Follow us on Twitter too: @russellbuckley and @caaarlo