Napster Adds Mobile Music Subscriptions

Fill your portable audio player with unlimited downloads for $15 per month: That's the promise behind the Napster To Go service. It's a great idea and a good way to try out new music, but the service's clumsy software interface, unexceptional sound quality, and (for now) limited choice in supported devices keep it from being a home run.

Napster To Go functions as either a stand-alone application (Napster version 3.0.3.4) or a plug-in to Windows Media Player; you have to download each separately. (Napster still offers its PC-only service for $10 per month.)

After logging on, you can download as many 128-kbps WMA music files as you want (higher bit-rate options would be good). The service's interface has improved slightly over that of previous versions, but its Windows Explorer-like two-pane arrangement can still be a chore to use.

Most of Napster's million-plus tracks are available for download; in my tests I encountered only a few albums that I couldn't grab, presumably because of licensing issues. Using Windows Media DRM 10, Napster sets the license for each track you download to expire on the day when your subscription to the Napster service ends. Let your subscription lapse, and you lose access to those songs.

Unfortunately, at press time not many portable players supported the service, but that's changing as vendors roll out new units and update old ones. From Napster's list of ten supported players, I'd recommend only three: Creative's Zen Micro, Dell's Pocket DJ, and IRiver's H10.

Napster To Go is a good way to experience new music genres and to fill some gaps in your collection, but I wouldn't recommend it as an alternative to buying music.

Eric Dahl

Napster To Go

A great way to sample new music--if you have one of the supported portable players.
Price when reviewed: $15 per month