Catnapping

So Napster is back, sort of. The new pay-for-play service from Roxio leverages the "brand value" developed during Napster's supposedly illicit past. I thought I'd give the site a look, given that my research focus for the moment is the rhetorics associated with peer-to-peer. I attempted to register and got this:

We're sorry, Napster is not currently compatible with your operating system.

Napster is currently compatible with Windows XP/2000.
Windows 95, Windows NT and the Mac OS are not supported at this time.

If you are planning on using Napster on this computer, the service will not be compatible and you should discontinue registration. If you will use Napster on a different computer, with a compatible operating system, please continue.

Now, an argument can be made for ceding the Mac market to Apple, and its iTunes service (Windows version due 10/16/03), but I'm disturbed by the developing trend of platform-specific music services. Each of these services is working to sign exclusive deals with particular artists and labels. This has the potential to screen consumers with the "wrong OS" from the music they most value. Just to be clear, I don't like exclusive deals when Apple executes them either.

The question at hand is whether online music services are going to increase or decrease consumers' access to music. The answer should be the former, emphatically. The politics of licensing and ownership may yet produce the latter.