The honeymoon was short but sweet.  I am no longer subscribed to Napster.

I had high hopes for this service.  A $15/month all-you-can-eat music service integrated into Windows Media Player 10 that not only works with my phone but also runs on Windows XP Media Center AND XBox with Media Center Extender software.  It was almost too good to be true.  I spent some time getting used to the idea of not owning the music I was listening to - deciding that for music I absolutely had to own long-term, I would just buy the used CD for $8.  Well, all that is over now.  I don't have those worries anymore because my days using Napster are done.  At least for the time being.

Before I get into the reasons for cancelling my subscription, let me first start by saying that I think the concept (and many aspects of their execution) can be pretty compelling.  The online store is inviting, and the integration into the rest of my life was unparalleled.  Having access to millions of songs from just about anywhere in my home, at work, and on the road (on my Tablet or my Smartphone) is a great vision.  So, in my opinion, Napster could be onto something.

OK - why cancel then?  Simple.  It didn't always work. 

Example #1: I was on my way back from the Web Spam Squashing Summit on Thursday when I had an urge to listen to John Legend on the plane while catching up on email.  I opened up Windows Media Player and double-clicked on the first song in the album.  What happens?  Some ridiculous message pops up saying I need to "authorize" the music before it would play.  Mind you, I had listened to this album a half-dozen times over the last few weeks.  Well, seeing as how I was on a plane with NO way to access the Internet, this obviously wasn't going to work.  No John Legend for me.  Instead, I had the privilege of listening to the guy two rows over whine for 90 minutes.

Example #2: Two hours ago, I was walking to the book store to check out (and ultimately buy) Designing with Web Standards on a beautiful Seattle afternoon.  I plugged headphones into my phone, opened up Windows Media Player, and clicked on Stevie Wonder/Music of My Mind.  Same damn thing.  Can't play the music without connecting to the Internet to authorize it.  "OK, great, this time I have an Internet connection.  No problem."  No dice.  Turns out over-the-air authorization doesn't (or didn't) work.  And it kept trying to connect for the rest of the afternoon.  Ugh.

Two strikes, Napster is out.  I am not waiting for a third, I play by my own rules.  Which brings me to a declaration: The end-user should never, under any legitimate circumstances, have to worry about copy protection.  This is the chief rule of DRM and the only way on Earth people will ever put up with it.  I had sync'ed my phone earlier today - why didn't it re-authorize the songs at this point?  I listened to Napster songs a couple of days ago - couldn't it reset ALL of my licenses at this time?  Note: I have no idea how this process works, and frankly don't care.  If you block two perfectly routine and valid attempts to listen to music, it doesn't work AT ALL.

For the record (Rick!) I don't think Napster is alone in violation of this rule - I don't know of a single service out there that gets it right, including Apple and MSN.  But that is for another time.

So, back to square one.  I will continue to buy used CDs based on previews at MSN Music... and wait for a subscription service that does what it is supposed to do.  Namely let me listen to music.