Guest Author - Michelle Anne Cope

I mix and match when it comes to music download services. I use both Napster and iTunes. I have the iTunes library on my laptop and spent several days this spring copying my entire CD collection into it. I also buy, or receive as gifts, music cards for iTunes that I use to buy singles or entire albums.

I use Napster for work. I'm a fiction writer and I'm always searching for the perfect soundtracks to compliment my stories.

Napster is also great for when I want to catch up on the latest pop music on the charts, or preview a new album. It's especially easy with the Napster to Go package. I pay $14.95 a month which allows me to download as many singles and/or albums as I like. I can transfer them onto my MP3 player and basically borrow them for as long as I keep the subscription.

Now, the downside is that the MP3 player I use has to be compatible with Napster and my Shuffle is not. However, when I first signed up for Napster to Go, I was able to get a free Napster MP3 player (shipping was charged) and I use it to listen to music from the Napster catalog. The selection is great and I can find new music to choose from as well as old favorites and as I mentioned above, music charts. You can find the current chart hits as well as the year you were born or maybe the year you graduated from high school or college. The list starts in the early fifties. There are all types of genres of music to choose from and it’s almost like a library loan, except the due date is up to you.

The monthly fee covers “borrowing” the music, not downloading it. If you wish to own a single or album, you do have to purchase it. This allows you to download it to a CD. The cost is usually 99 cents for a single and about $9.99 for an album. Also, when you cancel your Napster to Go subscription, you lose all of the music that you downloaded into your Napster library that you have not purchased.

The songs can be played in your Windows Media Player as well as the Napster library. The Napster library gives you options of setting up play lists and different categories.

Another thing I really like is that I can share Napster with my husband, Jeff. Jeff is a truck driver and on the road quite a bit. I set up Napster on his computer; bought him a Napster compatible MP3 player and now he can take a different set of songs or collection of CDs on the road with him every week. The bad thing is that we can’t both be on at the same time. We work around it!

If you are looking for variety in your music or if you are a big music buyer and want to listen before you spend, Napster to Go could be the package for you.

Let me know.

Have a great week!
Chel