NY Times: Napster 2.0 agreements will be like BuyMusic.com, not Apple’s iTunes Music Store
"At most, Napster's new agreements will produce a service similar to BuyMusic.com. Rather than accept the tightest set of restrictions that music labels had to offer, BuyMusic.com chose to sell tracks for a range of prices, with varying degrees of access," writes Amy Kover for The New York Times.
"A result is that some songs move with iTunes-like ease, while others have as little mobility as Rapunzel. The prices can be confusing. For 99 cents, you can download Eminem's... From MacDailyNews
My take:
Buymusic.com is a complete rip-off. They not only copy Apple's iTunes Music Store ads almost verbatim, but their prices aren't what they claim. The front page of the site says that music is "from 79 cents a song" and "$7.95 an album". Most songs are closer to a dollar or more. You also have to deal with various access rights to purchased music. If Napster 2.0 wants to copy this same flawed business model, I can't see how they will gain wide acceptance. At least Apple gives you consistent pricing and broad access rights.