In Depth: Napster Subscriptions
UPDATED In the dark for nearly three weeks, the existing Napster has taken a back seat while the company prepares to launch its fee-based subscription service. Set to debut late summer, Napster hopes to attract paying customers and simultaneously make amends with the recording industry by sharing only licensed music. Despite claims last month that MusicNet would exclusively power the subscriptions, Napster announced Monday an extended partnership with PlayMedia Systems to provide music in a new, secure format.
PlayMedia, known for its AMP MP3 technology that originally powered Winamp, has collaborated with Napster and Digital World Services to create a new proprietary codec for the upcoming subscription service. A company spokesperson told BetaNews the Napster service will offer a completely new audio format - an offshoot of MP3 based around AMP with an extension of .NAP. Digital rights management will also be incorporated into NAP using technology from Digital World Services.
A Napster partner since last December, PlayMedia currently supplies the software to play audio using the file-sharing client. Monday's announcement extends this relationship, providing Napster with the ability to encode new music, as well as recognize and play copyright-protected files.
Napster plans to make two tiers of memberships available to users. The first will include independent artists and other content licensed directly to the company. This music will be encoded in the new PlayMedia format and will only play via the Napster client. Company officials denied current plans to extend the proprietary codec into other software or portable hardware devices, but left the possibility open.
MusicNet will be offered as a second tier of the service, allowing members to access additional major label content for an added fee. A Napster spokesperson refused to reveal pricing specifics and whether MusicNet downloads would be integrated into the same client, or require a separate application. However, MusicNet files will remain in RealAudio 8 format and will not be initially available in NAP.
Touting the new technology, Napster's interim CEO Hank Barry claimed the company "is at the forefront of using some extremely advanced rights management and security technologies in a file-sharing environment."
It is not clear what will become of Napster's beleaguered free incarnation. Although, it seems the software will soon only share the secure format, converting all MP3 files to NAP before allowing them onto the network. This conversion process will also allow Napster to better filter copyrighted material - a problem that has forced the service to remain offline by court order.
A screenshot of the new Napster client has been posted to give users a taste of what's to come.