Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Minding Your Business: Nittany Napster
Aired November 07, 2003 - 07:47 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: If you can't beat them, join them. Apparently, Napster cutting a deal with a major state university.
And Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business," checks in on that.
This is a big story.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: It is a big story. It's the music business, which is struggling to survive. I don't think that's overstating it. Plus universities are looking to protect their students from litigation. What way to put things together right now? And this is what Penn State is looking to do here.
They have cut a deal with Napster, the online music service, to provide music to students as part of a regular fee that students pay, a technology fee, a $160 fee.
Let's break it down and look at how it will work. Here's what happens. You get unlimited downloads, students. This will be starting in January, you guys. It's part of that $160 a month you pay. To burn the song onto a disk, though, you'd have to pay 99 cents a song, which is the same regular fee.
You know, this deal here is looking pretty good. I think it's a step. There are some problems. No. 1, you're sort of paying twice.
HEMMER: Yes.
SERWER: Because you're already paying 160 bucks a semester.
HEMMER: Right.
SERWER: And then, you've got to pay the 99 cents. That's No. 1.
No. 2, it doesn't work on the iPod, which is Apple's device, which is the biggest MP3 player out there. So, a few problems with it.
Also, interestingly, MIT tried the system two weeks ago. It didn't really work. But it's definitely a step in the right direction. You want to get students if you're in the music industry into a paying mode because they're the young customers obviously.
HEMMER: And obviously a way for Napster to get contracts on the table, too, and then generate revenue.
SERWER: Yes, you bet. HEMMER: You told us yesterday to look out for the jobs report, and we're going to get it in about 40 minutes from now.
SERWER: That's right. Really a big, big thing. Yesterday a pretty good day on the markets. Alan Greenspan was a bit of a tonic as he talked up the economy. Also of course, we had a productivity report and a weekly jobs report. You can see there, just another nice day, 36 points up on the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P following suit.
We are going to get that jobs report at 8:30. We're looking for 6.1 percent in the unemployment rate, and we're looking to add jobs. This is a real big deal, because it will really sort of point the economy in the direction or give people signs as to where we're headed. So stay tuned for that.
HEMMER: Alan Greenspan saying that it looks pretty good right now. He's hopeful anyway.
SERWER: Yes.
HEMMER: Thank you, Andy.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired November 7, 2003 - 07:47 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: If you can't beat them, join them. Apparently, Napster cutting a deal with a major state university.
And Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business," checks in on that.
This is a big story.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: It is a big story. It's the music business, which is struggling to survive. I don't think that's overstating it. Plus universities are looking to protect their students from litigation. What way to put things together right now? And this is what Penn State is looking to do here.
They have cut a deal with Napster, the online music service, to provide music to students as part of a regular fee that students pay, a technology fee, a $160 fee.
Let's break it down and look at how it will work. Here's what happens. You get unlimited downloads, students. This will be starting in January, you guys. It's part of that $160 a month you pay. To burn the song onto a disk, though, you'd have to pay 99 cents a song, which is the same regular fee.
You know, this deal here is looking pretty good. I think it's a step. There are some problems. No. 1, you're sort of paying twice.
HEMMER: Yes.
SERWER: Because you're already paying 160 bucks a semester.
HEMMER: Right.
SERWER: And then, you've got to pay the 99 cents. That's No. 1.
No. 2, it doesn't work on the iPod, which is Apple's device, which is the biggest MP3 player out there. So, a few problems with it.
Also, interestingly, MIT tried the system two weeks ago. It didn't really work. But it's definitely a step in the right direction. You want to get students if you're in the music industry into a paying mode because they're the young customers obviously.
HEMMER: And obviously a way for Napster to get contracts on the table, too, and then generate revenue.
SERWER: Yes, you bet. HEMMER: You told us yesterday to look out for the jobs report, and we're going to get it in about 40 minutes from now.
SERWER: That's right. Really a big, big thing. Yesterday a pretty good day on the markets. Alan Greenspan was a bit of a tonic as he talked up the economy. Also of course, we had a productivity report and a weekly jobs report. You can see there, just another nice day, 36 points up on the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P following suit.
We are going to get that jobs report at 8:30. We're looking for 6.1 percent in the unemployment rate, and we're looking to add jobs. This is a real big deal, because it will really sort of point the economy in the direction or give people signs as to where we're headed. So stay tuned for that.
HEMMER: Alan Greenspan saying that it looks pretty good right now. He's hopeful anyway.
SERWER: Yes.
HEMMER: Thank you, Andy.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
