Feelings on Napster?


Hi, Since this is in part a forum about music, I'll put this statement and question on the table. In the past few months, I've begun to use Napster online. I'll look through the forum for reccomendations on good albums and tracks, then I'll download it on Napster, take a listen and, if I like it, purchase the album. My opinion is that Napster is really opening up accessibility to music for alot of people, allowing them to try new things that before they wouldn't have access to or simply wouldn't be prepared to invest in. It's helped expand my own horizons I know and I think it's good for music overall. Any opinions?
issabre
Not all of them sound the same, some are pretty close to CD. The transfer rate doesn't tell the whole story, either. Some at 128 sound superior to a 256, it's just a matter of how well the original was captured. For instance, if a CD was copied at several times normal speed (before MP3 conversion), then the sonic ills are obvious. My reason for using Napster, is to get the music I am unwilling to buy, but would still like to listen to. This amounts to a lot of music, and saves me many thousands of dollars off the retail price of those CD's. I've already spent many thousands of dollars on both CD, and especially recent vinyl reissues, so I feel I'm owed a "break" of sorts. They've made plenty of money off of me since I first started buying music 16 years ago, afterall...
Also, it's nice to be able to get that stuff that can't be bought in stores (or anywhere), if you catch my drift. Sure, the sonic quality of those is compromised, but so what? I'm a music lover, where my favorite music is concerned (the "audiophile" music is what you show your system off with, mostly)...and it's not my fault that they'll never release a live concert album...
Nobody ever bitches about people trading tapes. This is the same as tape trading or loaning your cd's to your buddies, but done over the internet. I have bought more cd's this year than any other year because of Napster. I hear something I like and I go buy it. Out of the 3000 cd's I own I have definitely bought more than a few lemons. Now with Napster I can see what it's like before I spend my money on cd rack filler. Maybe I should write Napster and tell them to charge the record companies for the "advertising" that they provide. These big companies always cry foul and bitch about new technology until it helps them turn a profit. If they had their way we wouldn't own VCR's, cassette decks, minidiscs, DAT's, etc. It sure is funny how the movie industry cried like little babies until they started selling more tapes than they ever imagined, then they quit their crying. This is only my opinion, but give it some honest thought.