Ah, the modern age…  Who would have believed, even through most of the last century, that the same device we use to contact friends or business associates could also be used to provide us with our favorite music.  Of course, almost all new mobile phones can do that and much more.

Imagine trying to explain the Internet to someone as recently as the 1970’s.  I tried…unsuccessfully.  Furthermore, as late as the early part of the last decade of the twentieth century, our current Internet speed would have seemed more of a distant hope than a short term reality.  Wrong!  Ten years later the majority of us are connect to broadband services.  Streaming music to our desktops is no longer interrupted by frequent pauses to resupply the buffer of our memory.

Napster, the same business that started as just a vehicle for peer-to-peer music exchanges, has now become the owner of the largest music catalog on the Internet, with over seven million titles.  It is still a terrific bargain, even though it is no longer free in the days when it was in hot water with the music industry.  The site provides what is widely regarded as the greatest bargain for music fans with a three month introductory subscription, with renewals at the same low rates.  I suspect you’ll renew, but the three months will give you a good taste of the service.

For a remarkably low price, you receive five download credits and special bonus download credits as a subscription bonus.  Included in the plan is the reason that most people subscribe in the first place–unlimited (!) streaming music.  You can listen to the entire catalogs of your favorite artists or, if you prefer, entire albums of a variety of artists.  They have over a thousand pre-made mix lists, and those are interactive.  They even have a streaming radio station.

The music that you select to download as part of your subscription can be played on any MP3 device, including Ipod, Zune and many others.  A lot of newer cell phones have built in MP3 players and sufficient memory to hold a number of your favorite selections, as well.

With your three month membership downloads, you receive unrestricted rights, so you can put your music onto various of your players.  You can even burn a CD for yourself.

There is a huge list of musical genres.  If you are similar to me, you choose from a lot of different genres, but if your tastes are more specific, you will certainly find your favorite genre.  The list is huge, but a few of the genres are jazz, pop, rock, Christian, children, comedy, country and the list goes on….

All of this is just $15 for the three months of delightful musical saturation at Napster.com.  Face it, that’s cheaper than a fast food lunch for three.

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