Music Business

Rhapsody Users Rebel Over Shift To Napster

image from www.hypebot.comLast week, Rhapsody consolidated its branding under the single moniker Napster.  With it came a supposedly improved interface and user experience, but judging from comments posted online, Rhapsody users are NOT happy with the change.

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image from www.hypebot.comRhapsody users responded angrily to the shift to the Napster brand in comments on Hypebot and elsewhere online.

"(This) combination of operational missteps at the most important moment of a merger/transition is a guaranteed to"red flag" that will drive this company into the ground if immediate changes aren't brought around," wrote one disgruntled user. 

Andy McBride said…
This was a really bad move. Do they have any idea how many firewalls are configured to block Napster? Although Napster has not been around for a while it is still on most firewall black lists.

Now I cannot use Rhapsody/Napster at work and I'm sure there are a lot of users finding out the same thing today.

combineddesign@comcast.net said…

Rhapsody disappeared from my laptop.

I am a paying subscriber?

X said…

Why did they name themselves after a product based on theft?

I will definitely never use their service now.

nuzu said…

What kind of inept executives at a company would opt for the Napster black screened ominous brand over the people pleasant dancing fun Rhapsody brand. Not realizing the merger, I just spent the past 15 minutes trying to figure out what virus I had that would convert the "Rhapsody.com" address I typed into my search engine to "Napster.com". AND, GET THIS, THE INITIAL SCREEN DIDN'T EVEN SAY "RHAPSODY IS NOW NAPSTER".

That combination of operational missteps at the most important moment of a merger/transition is a guaranteed to"red flag" that will drive this company into the ground if immediate changes aren't brought around. Mark my words! 

What do you think?  Join the discussion here. 

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17 Comments

  1. what I want to know is why I can no longer download music into my computers media player and then into my mp3 player. Is this the way its going to be from now on and if so am I going to be able to continue to listen to the music I already have downloaded into my device. I am hoping I can because I have no use for a pure streaming service.

  2. I am a subscriber to Rhapsody but last week my account changed to NAPSTER WITHOUT ANY NOTIFICATION. I am able to use Rhapsody on my I pad with Nuvo, but my I phone says I need to pay for another account for my I phone. I am cancelling all accounts with Rhapsody/Napster and going back Spotifey. You guys had a good customer, now you don’t.

  3. I also cannot access Napster at work due to the firewall. Rhapsody worked fine before. I’ve put in a IT request to remove the firewall restriction but will be cancelling Napster service if the request is not approved. I don’t understand the value in Rhapsody changing to Napster. How is this going to attract new customers? Napster is trying to differentiate itself from competitors but this name change completely misses the mark.

  4. While I too have a hard time understanding why a service like Rhapsody would choose to adopt a moniker with such a black eye as Napster, I did receive notifications on my phone, weeks before the change, and then on the day of the change.
    Overall little has changed for me so far, in that my playlists, favorites, listening history and other items are still there. Regardless of the name change, I do like the new Android UI, as it allows me to access my music a bit faster.
    The only major negative that I have, which I hoped would have changed, is that I STILL don’t have lock screen controls for Android. This feature is absolutely crucial, given every other music service allows me to access basic play functions on the go, without having to enter my key code and access the actual app.

  5. I have a Rhapsody account, Do I automatically convert to Napster?
    I’ve already paid my $9.99 for this month.

  6. All the babies crying in the house, shut the **** up!!!!
    Rhapsody was Napster before you new friends showed up.
    I had some awesome times with napster before it was black listed and most of you are probably hypocrites anyway. Don’t tell me you never used morpheus or lime wire or frostwire or anything like the applications.
    I’ve been using rhapsody since it’s inception, but I’ve been using NAPSTER the whole time, because, you jack***es, if you cared to scroll to the bottom of the rhapsody Web page whilst working at your jobs(shouldn’t you be doing some ******* work anyway?!) You’d see the word “NAPSTER” along with the logo right next to the copyright. RHAPSODY IS NAPSTER AND NAPSTER IS RHAPSODY.
    Y’all just wanna make waves.
    Right when rhapsody came out in started using it, because I loyal. Turncoats GTFO IF YA DON’T LIKE IT…

  7. I’ve been a rhapsody customer since its inception. Despite my family’s insistence on switching ti apple music, I’ve remained loyal to rhapsody… until now. I believe the company missed the mark on this rebranding effort.
    Even though I knew about it all along based on emails they sent, it still felt very foreign going to the new napster-branded site. There is definitely still a stigma attached to the napster brand that I thought had been erased from my mind.
    Whatever financial motivations that caused the company to go down the path of one brand is certain to also cause the loss of some customers. I unfortunately can’t continue with the napster service for this very reason. It is unfortunate because I was truly trying to stick out for the small guy and keep paying just to make sure the company stays relevant and competitive.
    Best of luck to the company… I’m out.

  8. I’ve been on Rhapsody since Yahoo Music was offering it as a replacement to the failed Music Match service. Here is my experience thus far with the Napster apps on both my laptop and android phone.
    First off the Android app is basically useless to me it only plays one song then says “Playback error, skipping to next track”. I did everything that was suggested by the FAQ on Napsters site with no luck. when I attempted to chat with tech support I purposely explained in the opening chat message all the steps that I already did so the tech would not waste time telling me to do the steps i already did. but sure enough they went ahead and told me to try all the things I already tried.
    So after no luck with the android app I figured I can just use Pandora or something free for when im walking. but I use Rhapsody (aka Napster) on my laptop when I’m at work, on the train or at home. so I figured that I could download tracks for the train ride in the morning as wifi connectivity is spotty at best. Well it turns out (and this is not so much Napsters fault) that a Windows 10 update totally fucked DRM for Not only Napster but other music services that utilize DRM (another reason why DRM needs to disappear). Unfortunatly, Microsofts instructions for rolling back the Win 10 Anniversary update are inaccurate. They say to go to Settings>Updates & Security>Recovery and click the “Go back” link. The thing is there is no “Go Back” link on the Recovery screen.

  9. Calm down and listen with an open mind. When the change was made, I lost the ability to transfer my Rhapsody/Napster music to my MP3 player with automatic updates to playlists, etc. In fact, I can’t even use Napster to sync music anymore; I have to use my MP3 software and manually reset it. Every time I’ve tried this, I get a little bit closer to what I want, but still haven’t gotten the 100%, seamless transfer of music that I used to get.
    I couldn’t care less about the rebranding, but Napster also needs to ensure that it functions the way that Rhapsody users had grown to like. Stop insulting people.

  10. Rhapsody to Napster working on my laptop. Does NOT work on Netflix.
    Netflix was error message cannot connect to server for Rhapsody.
    Spoke with customer service for both Netflix & Napster, no solution.
    My laptop now has Napster logo & playlists work, no worries.
    My TV Netflix still shows Rhapsody NOT Napster, very poor customer service.

  11. no downloads anymore with Napster…their app doesn’t work with new windows 10 update. They say they will fix but it’s been two months!!!

  12. I’ve been with Rhapsody forever I dont care about the name. Napster has less artists than Rhapsody and is way less intuitive and limited when trying to discover an artist that plays the style of music that you like,

  13. As usual MONEY Overrides Common Sense on the part of MICROSOFT who now wants to MONOPOLIZE Online Music Streaming. MICROSOFT wants people to Use and Purchase their Products ONLY, that’s what this is all about. Cut out the Middle Man ie; Napster/Rhapsody or any other Music Streaming Company that they consider a threat to their company. Microsofts dream is In the end Consumers will be forced to use ALL MICROSOFT Online Streaming Products/Software.. I just got a new Lap Top for Christmas and one of the first software programs I installed was Napster. I Love My Music. Today Internet went down for a bit and I decided I needed to Download my songs on my Napster Play List so I can listen to music when the Internet goes down. Low and behold I found out that Microsoft discontinued Support for Napsters Download feature in Windows 10. WTF is that about? Nothing but Greed and the Need to Monopolize and Control the Online Music Streaming Industry while Crushing small nice companies like Napster/Rhapsody. Do Not Blame Rhapsody/Napster this is Greedy as Microsoft and their IDIOT Microsoft Minions doing.. Then again you can’t blame the minions at Microsoft because they too are being CONTROLLED by BULLY Microsoft. Not to worry because In the end Microsoft will lose Big Time.. Minus their B.S. Spyware thats programmed into all of their software, their products and online services are cool, but in the long run their GREED will be the End of Microsoft..

  14. Let’s looK at what has happened:
    A legitimate Napster subscription service went through several ownerships including Best Buy. Finally the assets of the US based Napster were purchased by Rhapsody International, another subscription-based online service. Both of these services allowed premium users to authorize a certain number of devices on their accounts, and to download music tracks and play them on the authorized devices, protecting them with Window DRM technology.
    Rhapsody discovered that the “Rhapsody” brand name had far less name recognition with consumers than the brand name they own, which is “Napster”. The change to the Napster name and branding was simply to promote sales with better brand recognition.
    Around the beginning of 2017 Microsoft, without giving anyone a “heads up”, put out a new version of Windows 10, with support for Windows DRM (Digital Rights Management) removed. This suddenly forced Rhapsody/Napster to suspend download of music tracks to Windows devices. It did NOT end downloads to iOS and Android devices. Rhapsody/Napster was forced to developed new software that would protect the files and allow download to devices in addition to streaming. That new software is a Windows APP available free from the Windows Store online.
    However, the new app provides no flexibility to control WHERE the downloaded music tracks are to be stored within Windows, unlike previous software versions.

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