• Welcome to the Off-Topic/Schweb's Lounge

    In addition to the Mac-Forums Community Guidelines, there are a few things you should pay attention to while in The Lounge.

    Lounge Rules
    • If your post belongs in a different forum, please post it there.
    • While this area is for off-topic conversations, that doesn't mean that every conversation will be permitted. The moderators will, at their sole discretion, close or delete any threads which do not serve a beneficial purpose to the community.

    Understand that while The Lounge is here as a place to relax and discuss random topics, that doesn't mean we will allow any topic. Topics which are inflammatory, hurtful, or otherwise clash with our Mac-Forums Community Guidelines will be removed.

Napster or itunes?

Joined
Sep 3, 2005
Messages
192
Reaction score
5
Points
18
Location
Goodyear, AZ
Your Mac's Specs
17" iMac G5- 1.8Ghz - 1GB of Ram - AND - 17" Intel Core 2 Duo iMac - 2Ghz - 1GB of Ram
Ok I need more clarity. First off I want to apologize for any ignorance on my part, as I still have about a month before I make the switch.

So like I said, I plan on buying my imac G5 within the next month, so of course I'm researching as much as I can about what programs are best to use with a mac, and what programs are easily compatible with the mac. Right now, as a life long PC user, I use Musicmatch for all my MP3's. I don't have any type of portable mp3 player, but soon after I get my mac, I will probably get an ipod mini.

So back to my question. When I get my mac, what is better to use for my mp3's (playing, recording, downloading, etc...) Napster does offer a nice price, $14.95/month for unlimited downloads, while according to what I have read, itunes charge .99 per song. Napster does sound cheaper, but is there anything that I'm missing that itunes can offer. The way I figure it, is if at .99 per song and I want an entire album, (20-22 songs) that would cost me $20-$22. I did notice that you could purchase a complete album like if you were to buy it at the store, but what about if I want a custom album. You know like random artist on one CD?

I would appreciat all your feedback in helping me decide. Thanks.
 
Joined
Jul 22, 2003
Messages
6,999
Reaction score
187
Points
63
Location
Hamilton College
Your Mac's Specs
20" iMac C2D 2.16ghz, 13" MacBook 2.0ghz, 60gb iPod vid, 1gb nano
1. Napster isn't available for macs.
2. In napster as soon as you stop paying you lose all of the songs you have downloaded
3. iTMS is usually 10 dollars per CD
 
Joined
Aug 15, 2005
Messages
154
Reaction score
1
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
20" iMac core2Duo 2.4Ghz 4GB ram
napster will alsop not work with an iPod mini, as it uses windows media drm, I believe.
 
Joined
Jul 23, 2004
Messages
3,169
Reaction score
164
Points
63
Location
North NJ
Your Mac's Specs
i dont have no mac's
good question though!

the thing i dont like about napster is that you are renting all of your songs, the second you end your subscription your "1,000,000" songs go straight out the window and you dont have any music...

-chris
 
Joined
Jul 22, 2003
Messages
6,999
Reaction score
187
Points
63
Location
Hamilton College
Your Mac's Specs
20" iMac C2D 2.16ghz, 13" MacBook 2.0ghz, 60gb iPod vid, 1gb nano
Yep so you are basically paying 180/yr for life for your music

If you used the service for 5 years and decided to stop you will have wasted around 900 dollars
 
S

sursuciofla

Guest
trpnmonkey41 said:
Yep so you are basically paying 180/yr for life for your music

If you used the service for 5 years and decided to stop you will have wasted around 900 dollars

Yeah, definately not worth the headache. GO iTUNES, RAH, RAH, RAH!!!!!!!
 
OP
evolve
Joined
Sep 3, 2005
Messages
192
Reaction score
5
Points
18
Location
Goodyear, AZ
Your Mac's Specs
17" iMac G5- 1.8Ghz - 1GB of Ram - AND - 17" Intel Core 2 Duo iMac - 2Ghz - 1GB of Ram
Wow, that's good to know. If I want a new CD and it will cost the same if I were to go to the store and pick it up, then great. If it will cost me about the same to make a custom CD, you know with different songs and artists all on one CD, as it would for any other CD, then excelent. Thanks for the input guys. That SUCKS, that Napster only lets you "rent" the songs you pay for... didn't know that. What a rip off! Makes me mad even thinking it...those sneeky B@st@rds :ninja:
 
Joined
Jan 12, 2005
Messages
1,278
Reaction score
13
Points
38
Location
/home/sheffield/UK
Your Mac's Specs
12" 1Ghz PB 768Mb 10.4.5 30Gb Video iPod 40Gb 3G iPod 1Gb iPod Shuffle
TBH the napster thing is a good idea once the DRM hsa been removed (im not condoning it in anyway!) as for people like me it would save me a fortune.

As for albums id rather go and get it from the shop and have it on the original cd with the booklet etc for the same price
 
M

MightyMac

Guest
I find myself using itunes because I can't find anything better. Maybe there isn't at present. My main gripe is the music selection. Is there another service that I can use? ...one that's comparable in price to itunes, but offers a wider selection? Or should i just shut up and stick with itunes? Please advise. thx
 
Joined
Mar 16, 2005
Messages
290
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Location
New Jersey
Your Mac's Specs
Dual 1.8GHz Power Mac G5; 1GB SDRAM; 160GB Serial ATA; 20 inch Cinema Display
coach_z said:
good question though!

the thing i dont like about napster is that you are renting all of your songs, the second you end your subscription your "1,000,000" songs go straight out the window and you dont have any music...

-chris

Exactly.. Napster, IMO is not worth it. And believe it or not, you'll end up paying more for Napster then iTunes in monthly fees and renewal fees.
 
Joined
Mar 9, 2004
Messages
2,860
Reaction score
21
Points
38
Location
Miami FL
Your Mac's Specs
G4 1Ghz OS X 10.4.7
I far prefer iTunes
 
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
3,378
Reaction score
61
Points
48
I prefer iTunes, but I don't think Napster is worthless, I know a lot of people that are quite happy with it. It just is a personal thing. Since I first signed up for iTunes, I bet I have averaged aboug $8 a month, I just don't listen to that much music.

I pay $20 a month for my gamefly subrscription, sure it costs me $240 a year and in the end I am left with nothing which some people might think is crazy, but I am not about to go out and buy every game I want to play even though I know some people that do that.
 
Joined
Mar 30, 2004
Messages
4,744
Reaction score
381
Points
83
Location
USA
Your Mac's Specs
12" Apple PowerBook G4 (1.5GHz)
As far as I'm concerned, if you want an album, you might as well buy the CD. Maybe it'll cost more, but you'll have a good backup copy that you can play anywhere, lyric notes, and a solid CD case to keep it in.

If you want a single song, get it from iTunes; 99¢ is a pretty good deal...plus you get it instantly.
 
K

KriegsCX

Guest
This may be irrelevant, since Napster is not availavbe for Macs, but I think you should check out Tunebite.

It really makes Napster the better choice.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top