Gorog says 'keep paying'


Engadget has posted Napster CEO Chris Gorog's canned answers to otherwise mostly worthy questions. Here's a sampling of his very 1984-esque version of reality:

• What we are providing consumers with is an experience where they can have this unlimited access and playback and portability ... as long as they keep paying fee...

Keep repeating that last line...

• The $30 million advertising campaign we kicked off at the Super Bowl has already been an over-the-left-field-fence home run for our company.

Of the 55 SuperBowl ads aired this year, Napster's was rated dead last by viewers.

• So you're going to have consumers having to make a decision between last year's technology, your father's Oldsmobile [ie the iPod], or any other MP3 player that will support this extraordinary portable subscription opportunity.

This sounds very-much like Creative's line of BS in the wake of the iPod shuffle launch.

• The other thing I'd emphasize is, if people still desire ownership and they want to burn a CD or put together a compilation disc, they can still do that at Napster.

Does this mean you have to pay twice? It certainly sounds like that...

• It's a very different model and extremely attractive, once you get used to it.

What you have to get used to with Napster is that you have to "keep paying." With Napster, you don't own the music.

• [Jobs] must be pretty frightened of ... Napster To Go ... He was claiming we had some sort of security gap...

Goodness... Does this point require rebuttal?

There are, of course, a few things Gorog doesn't address--all the free music Apple gives away and the huge number of songs on iTMS that cost a lot less than $0.99.

First, Apple gives away at least one free song every week and, of course, downloading these songs make them yours forever. Although I may have missed a few, I do have dozens of songs in my library that are completely legal for which I paid not one thin dime and there's more where that came from.

This week's "Single of the week" is Someday by Flipsyde. Also, check the bottom right of the Music Store page in iTunes--you'll find four songs you can have for less than "the price of a song"--they are free and are yours forever.

Lastly, Morog also keeps kicking the $0.99 pricing dead horse. As readers of last week's iTMS buys article--a feature that will be repeated this Wednesday--the iTunes Music Store offers tons of great music for $0.60 or less per track. And, of course, once you buy a song via iTMS, you own it forever and can replicate it for your friends forever (if that's your gig), as well.

Look for tomorrow's "iTMS buys" (80s hits) and, don't be a Morog, keep doing the math...