BBC NEWS | Technology | Napster offers rented music to go
Napster is due to launch a new rental subscription service – dubbed Napster to Go in the UK in the next few months.
The service can be used on players that support Microsoft Windows latest Digital Rights Management technology known as Janus.
Currently on offer in beta-version in the US, the service costs $15 per month for unlimited downloads.
The technology ensures that music downloaded to the player only remains playable while the user subscribes to the service.
Users need to update their license on a monthly basis or the tunes will no longer play.
Well, I can see this being great for the music companies, but really it sucks. Hate to think how much rental I’d have to pay on my original pressing of Sgt. Pepper. Maybe because chart music is so rubbish you only want to keep it for a month or two but why bother. I would never, ever buy music on this basis but perhaps I’m getting old. Anyway its a bit late in the game to try and change the business model for the music industry.