LimeWire is a free peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P) client program that runs on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and other operating systems supported by the Java software platform. LimeWire uses the gnutella network as well as the BitTorrent protocol. A free software version and a purchasable "enhanced" version are available.
Napster is somewhat different. Napster offers a variety of music download services to suit every budget. It offers more than six million tracks from all the major artists, which users can download on a per song basis (79p each) or album basis (starting at £7.95), and own the music forever. Or for a flat fee of £9.95, users can download unlimited tracks they can transfer between their PC and compatible MP3 player, and own the music forever.
Comparison of the two pages
Limewire and Napster
The websites home page is very colourful and bright with the chosen colour of bright green and lime; hints the name. Napster on the other is a bit duller; its colours consist of dark grey, navy blue and silver. I believe that Limewire’s (the illegal site) homepage is more bright and cheerful compared to Napster to make audiences somewhat feel more excited and comfortable when using this site knowing that their doing something illegal. It gives a sense of relaxation to audiences to be able to see bright and cheerful colours whilst there in the process of downloading the program.
On Limewires front page you aren’t given as much information about what you’re getting out of the software in comparison to the information that Napster provides you with. On Napsters home page audiences are firstly introduced to the Napster offer; ‘5 MP3’s to keep + 10 million songs to play= just £5 a month. At the right hand side of that heading is the ‘Get Napster’ link which when you click on it, it automatically takes you to a membership page where you can sign up for a period of time for your preferred fee. When navigating back to the home page, at the near bottom of the page you are then given more information about what Napster is offering i.e., ‘Each month download 5 high-quality MP3s from the Napster catalogue. Our MP3s have no restrictions - use them as you want. Transfer your MP3s to any MP3 player including the iPod and iPhone and music-enabled phones’. Right underneath that is the sign ‘The best value, Legal Music Service you can access anywhere’ and in small print at the very bottom is *Your plan of unlimited streaming and 5 MP3s per month will be effective immediately on registration. You will automatically be charged £5 every month (Napster contract month: 30 days). Your MP3 credits do not rollover to the next billing period and must be used within each billing period. You can cancel at any time. You will be charged for individual songs and albums you purchase to keep or burn. Limewire doesn’t offer you this amount of information, with Napster you are constantly reminded that you’re doing something legal and that you are being charged, with Limewire you are constantly reminded that you are getting something free by the lack of information provided on the page. On the homepage the word ‘Free’ is in bold letters right next to the link which navigates you to download the program. Underneath this link is some information about all the other users that are a part of the Limewire community and how Limewire has helped them. Overall I believe that the illegal music streaming sites are more persuasive by giving less information. I believe that this adds a sense of curiosity with audiences. Napster tells you everything that you are getting and the price you will be paying for it. You are constantly reminded of finance where as with Limewire you’re getting more of an experience when trying to figure out what it’s about and what its offering you.
Conclusions
When analysing both the legal and illegal music streaming sites I was able to draw some accurate conclusions from my findings. In this country alone the illegal download sites are viewed by way more people than the legal download site. 15 million people visits Limewire compared to Napster, majority which are males consisting of the age group of 25-34. As we can see from the demographics shown above teenagers who are still in college with a household income of £30,000 to £49,999 (which is relatively low) tend to use the illegal download website as opposed to the legal downloading website. Stereotypes usually suggests that teenagers are generally the ones to illegally download music, and demographics supports these stereotypes, however statics suggests that people aged 25-34 and 55-64 tend to illegally download music as well. When analysing this I began to question why older people are viewing these sites especially as they are generally the age group classed as computer illiterate. This led me to see if this had anything to do with their household income. Maybe those older people who earned less used these sites. I was amazed to see that people who earn more than £50,000 were using the illegal downloading sites as opposed to the legal one. This could possibly lead to the failure of music industries in the future. I say this because if those people who are earning a lot of money decides to get there music for free then those earning less will do so to therefore leading to the drop in profits for music industries. I also came to the conclusion that teenagers may be the cause of future effects on the industry. I realised that on the Napster site there were no teenagers that used that site and there were no elderly people who used that site. However on Limewire there were 26% of teenagers using this site and there were 4% of elderly people using the site. Generally elderly people are shown by their children or grandchildren how to use the computer and specific sites, so statistics shows that the more teenagers that use these sites the more elderly people used these sites; therefore causing an increase in the population of those illegally downloading music.
Diamond King-Stennett
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