Yesterday, Napster reinvented itself again by offering free access (with limits on repeat plays) to their entire music library. This move could change the entire online music landscape.

Napster is now free

The major portals have been teasing visitors with the occasional and unpredictable listening party for years.

At AOL, it wasn’t until they bought MusicNow in 2005 that they began to regularly offer full-album streams. Last week, AOL’s listening party interface was the best free destination on the web for full albums. Now, Napster’s got many of AOL Music’s 22 listening parties plus oh so much more.

At MSN, they’ve moved even slower on providing engaging listening experiences. In 2006, MSN’s download store got some well-needed editorial attention, but even so, “unpredictable” is definitely the word to describe their full-album offerings.

Finally there’s MySpace, who today has a not-so-exclusive “exclusive” Wolfmother listening party (Napster has it and so does AOL Music). Their music offering is strong, but pales in comparison to Napster’s innovation.

Really, it’s Napster’s ability to pull off the negotiations with the labels that is so incredible here. It seems unlikely that Napster would be the only company to pull this off though. How long until iTunes, AOL Music Now, and Rhapsody follow suit? And how long until e-commerce sites swap their sample services out for the real thing?

Hat tip: Listening Post

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