Napster
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 9 of 10 music streaming services by recommenders
People remember Napster's peer-to-peer music sharing for social discovery through others' shared folders. Critics find its AI companions page unsettling.
People remember Napster's peer-to-peer music sharing for social discovery through others' shared folders. Critics find its AI companions page unsettling.
13 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 85%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Discovering music through others' shared folders
“My favorite manual discovery/social was Napster, for that moment that you could view other user's entire shared music folder”
Comment from 14 Dec 2025 in “2002: Last.fm and Audioscrobbler Herald the Social Web” “It was so interesting to find house music and be digging through the tastes of someone in London.”
Comment from 14 Dec 2025 in “2002: Last.fm and Audioscrobbler Herald the Social Web” “finding someone's stash of music you like surrounded by things you've never heard of”
Comment from 27 Feb 2026 in “Dear Time Lords: Freeze Computers in 1993” Disruptive, pushed labels and studios to change
“Napster was a fantastic and disruptive product, the likes of which arguably has no equal to this day”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “The AI Race Just Got Awkward” “it pushed musicians and studios to do something that they were reluctant otherwise”
Comment from 21 May 2026 in “AI is just unauthorised plagiarism at a bigger scale”
Other music streaming services people recommend
The four most recommended other music streaming services, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify | 299 | 732 | 29% | 12 | 10 yrs30 owners | — |
| Apple Music | 131 | 270 | 33% | 12 | 1 yr14 owners | — |
| YouTube Music | 58 | 61 | 49% | 12 | — | — |
| Tidal | 48 | 41 | 54% | 11 | 10 yrs3 owners | — |
| NapsterThis page | 11 | 2 | 85% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
11 of the 13 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Napster was a fantastic and disruptive product, the likes of which arguably has no equal to this day”
“Napster is a peer-to-peer service for downloading music”
“I was 13 in 1999 and browsing Napster.”
“The "companions" page is really disturbing. Two dozen of slightly different animated avatars doing exactly the same gestures while starring at you.”
“it pushed musicians and studios to do something that they were reluctant otherwise”
“finding someone's stash of music you like surrounded by things you've never heard of”
“Both were wildly successful, and ultimately died because of legal issues.”
“Arguably one of the best app I've been using”
“This left a lot to be desired, but it was plenty good-enough for finding new-to-me music”
“My favorite manual discovery/social was Napster, for that moment that you could view other user's entire shared music folder”
“It was so interesting to find house music and be digging through the tastes of someone in London.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.