Mad Rantz

Napster

I’ve been using the new (and legal) Napster service the last month or two, and so far I’m pretty happy. I get access to a fairly decent catalog of tunes for $10/month, and if I really wanted I could burn the tracks for $1/each like you can with iTunes. I’ve found that I really could give two shits about having the physical media. I just want access to my tunes from my computer for the most part, and the ability to dump some to my MP3 player if I want to hear something while I’m biking or doing some other sort of away-from-the-computer-type activity.

Nothingface

One of the most useful aspects of having access to a large music catalog is that I get to try out music that I likely never would have by simply listening to the radio. Napster has some nice features that I’ve been using regularly lately that help facilitate finding new tunes. The first is a large list of “radio” playlists that you can choose from. I’ve been spending a lot of time listening to their “Damage” playlist, which seems apropos as I tend to like listening to heavier rock/metal, and as a bonus there is no doubt that I am a bit damaged.

The second feature I really enjoy is the recommended artists list they show when you are listening to an album. This feature even moreso than the “radio” lists has led me to some interesting tunes, including a five-year-old album by Nothingface. How the fuck did I miss these guys five years ago? They also apparently have a newer album released in 2003 that is not on Napster, which makes me sad, but I liked the album from 2000 so much that I believe I will go out and actually purchase both CDs very soon now.