Still Mourning the Pig’s Pink Palace? AT&T and Napster Team Up To Cheer Up

Years ago, I remember reading a remark that aptly summed up the futility of a conceptual war -- specifically, the War on Drugs. It read, "The War on Drugs -- you know, the one where you can't do drugs anymore." With the success rate obviously through the roof, the War on Terror followed suit, nabbing those pesky bad guys and restoring the world's freedom. Not wanting to be outdone, the internet now has its own goose chase. I don't know if you've heard (TMT News 1 2), but apparently there are illegal implications with the torrent protocol.

So, since the now-famous OiNK raid, knowing you -- the poor music fan -- have no other options, the kind folks over at Napster (who now run by the book, of course), in association with AT&T, want to lend a hand. Not only do they want to open musical doors, offering you the latest from Matchbox 20 with exclusives from their greatest hits album Exile On Mainstream (TMT Review), but now you can also access the entire Napster catalog of 5 million tracks directly from your mobile phone. I know, I know -- your prayers have been answered.

And they're practically giving these things away. Individual songs will run you only $2 each, or you can treat yourself to a five-pack of songs for only $7.50. That's a $2.50 discount! But that's not all. Call in the next five minutes and you'll receive the mobile video service, MobiVJ, which will offer users eight music video channels for only $7 a month. (You won't believe how great Rob Thomas looks on a 1.5 inch screen.) Finally, AT&T also announced the specifics of their VIP Access application that offers artist biographies, new music samples, and news alerts for the pocket-change price of $3 a month. It's like they think you're some sort of charity case the way they're throwing around these criminally cheap offers.

Unfortunately, both Sprint and Verizon Wireless have offered nearly identical, similarly useless full-song mobile downloads for close to two years now, leaving AT&T just slightly behind the curve. You know, sort of like listening to Matchbox 20 in 2007.

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