As their API’s press release notes:

The Napster API includes access to all of the Napster music service features, including: a la carte MP3 purchasing (via Web), on-demand streaming of nine million songs, radio stations, user-created playlists and Billboard charts. CE manufacturers can also offer free trial subscriptions to customers.

The API is the result of a decade spent transforming Napster, which has had more than a few run-ins with the legal system in the past. Chris Gorog, the CEO of Napster until recently, made this post in the Napster blog:

We began with a simple idea – “legalizing Napster” – and spent almost a decade trying to perfect that dream.

It wasn’t always easy. We were criticized at times for “renting” music. But we thought then – and still believe quite strongly – that we had a better approach to digital music. Why buy downloads – when for a small monthly fee you can have access to – everything?

Well after a lot of years of chasing this dream of - unlimited access, anytime, anywhere – it seems to be catching on.

Thanks to our customer’s support – Napster now has many hundreds of thousands of music fans that really like “renting” music and this fan base keeps growing every day. Although our customers call it streaming. Streaming from their PC. Streaming from their IP connected TV. And streaming from their smart phones (coming soon!).

Napster Access is targeting any internet capable device including the Napster TV widget for Samsung televisions with the Internet@TV feature, mobile phones, iPods, iPhones, MP3 players and web applications. Access to the service costs a few dollars a month, which gives end users unlimited streaming of music as well as the ability to permanently download a number of MP3s.

There are a number of sample web applications that make use of the Napster Access API, as well as comprehensive documentation for web developers.

As we noted earlier this week, music APIs are popular, and with this latest addition, there are now 68 music-related APIs in our directory.

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This week in Las Vegas at Gartner’s SOA / ADI Event I hosted a Analyst / User Roundtable on the topic of Cloud computing / SaaS integration. One attendee which has already (impressively) leveraged the services of a dozen SaaS vendors claims that four of the twelve  providers have changed API’s without notification, impacting production operations. A few other members of the group cited some experience with what I’ll coin here (strictly for the entertainment value, of course) “API slamming”.

Rick Nucci also noted the issue in his post The Top 10 Most Common API Pitfalls, with inadequate API versioning making it in at number 3:

3. Developing a single version of your API which changes with each release of your SaaS application

Impact: Your customers get on the “API treadmill” which requires that they repeatedly have to test their integrations with each release of your application. This will inevitably lead to push back from the customer base which may result in pressure to reduce the frequency of your product releases.

There are some simple solutions. Alex King shows how to implement versioning with a simple modification to the API endpoint:

When people build to your APIs, they need to continue working – even if/when the APIs need to evolve over time. The best way to do this is to build API versioning right into the API URLs themselves.

Yes: api.example.com/1.0/command
No: api.example.com/command

Rick Nucci says providers should:

Think of your API as a contract between you and your customer. Once you release it, that specific version needs a SLA guaranteeing compatibility to it for some extensive period of time (years). As you release new versions of your application, version your API also.

You can find more on REST API versioning in an earlier series of blog posts from Peter Williams and this one from Dare Obasanjo. For a more SOAP-centric perspective on this, InfoQ has this handy book excerpt on Web Service Contract Versioning.

API Slamming, API Treadmill… Whatever you call it, the lack of a stable API is a major headache for developers, and with thousands of APIs to choose from, it is a quick way for vendors to lose customers to competing services.

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CNet reports that this is a “soft-launch.” Along with sparse data in non-official cities, the service has several applications to update. For example, its iPhone app will require the App Store approval process.

Developers would be wise to make some changes to their applications, as well. A message in the developer forum recommends that “cityid calls should be replaced by geolat + geolong.” In other words, instead of FourSquare–and its apps–being city-specific, they now will focus within a radius of a user’s location.

The same will be the case from a user perspective, according to CNet:

As for your Foursquare friends list, which used to only display friends who were also signed on in the same designated Foursquare-approved city, the service now displays friends who have checked into locations in the same metropolitan area as determined by a given radius. Badges that are specific to location, like New York’s “Animal House” badge for checking into too many NYU beer-pong bars, remain city-centric, but badges that are awarded for general check-in habits (like the “Crunked” badge for checking in four times in a night) are now available everywhere.

For more information about FourSquare, see our FourSquare API profile or the post announcing its public availability.

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ReadWriteWeb reported that MyBlogLog will be closed in January. Yahoo responded with its own post, which gives few details except to say no decision has been made:

Is a shutdown on the table? Sure, that’s an option. But there are other options as well. We know this creates some uncertainty for current MyBlogLog users. While we aren’t quite ready to share more details, we promise to keep you posted.

If you’re a developer using the MyBlogLog API, it’s difficult to take any solace from the Yahoo post.

If Yahoo does shutter the site and API there will be some fallout. The API never quite saw the adoption to the level of its potential (we list only 5 MyBlogLog mashups, including FOAFster, shown above, and at our profile). However, the MyBlogLog widget, the heart of the service, is still installed on thousands of blogs. Those sites will need to remove MyBlogLog and possibly move to other services. And, the toughest part, they’ll have to start all over with getting visitors to join that next network.

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Though the documentation seems to push a SOAP API, an easier to use REST-based interface is also available for every operation. That means you can test out the API in your browser to see if it will work for you.

The service has three functions:

• SearchLyric – returns songs by artist, song title, or both.
• SearchLyricText – returns songs with lyrics that match the search term
• GetLyric – returns the actual lyrics to the song — called after one of the other functions

Since the lyrics are shared by individual users, ChartLyrics also provides a link to provide corrections. As per the community-based nature of the site, it requests developers encourage their users to report problems with lyrics to improve the database.

Music APIs remain popular. About five percent of all mashups are tagged music. We also list 66 music APIs, including two ChartLyrics competitors: Lyricsfly and LyricWiki. 2009 saw several Music Hack Day events where developers got together to discuss and improve platforms, as well as create applications (we covered the London Music Hack Day and the Boston Music Hack Day) .

As with many music-related applications, copyright issues are a major consideration. Hit songwriters are well-compensated and, as such, well-defended. Just a few months ago, LyricWiki stopped sharing lyrics via its API because of licensing issues.

Still, the lyrics APIs remain popular with developers. We list 43 lyrics mashups, almost double the number at the beginning of 2009.

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 Bit.ly used in tDash

 eBay used in Game Scootch

 Facebook used in Vodafone Update App for BlackBerry or iPhone

 Google AJAX Language used in Dear Map

 Google Ajax Search used in Dear Map

 Google Earth used in Dear Map

 Google Homepage used in Outfit Editor

 Google Maps used in Allogarage, Brazil Preco dos Combustiveis, Dear Map, Local Twitter Trends with Google and Yahoo, Map Your Ride/Drive With Biker Footprints

 Google Maps Flash used in Party Map

 Google Search used in Brazil Preco dos Combustiveis

 Google Static Maps used in Dear Map

 Google Visualization used in Dear Map

 Jigsaw used in Ixcitable for Jigsaw

 Last.fm used in Slandr Mobile Twitter

 MaxMind GeoIP used in Local Twitter Trends with Google and Yahoo

 Mobypicture used in Slandr Mobile Twitter

 MySpace used in Vodafone Update App for BlackBerry or iPhone

 OpenSocial used in Outfit Editor

 Stylight used in Outfit Editor

 TwitPic used in Moo’d Tweet, Slandr Mobile Twitter, Vodafone Update App for BlackBerry or iPhone

 Twitter used in Bot Beverages, Local Twitter Trends with Google and Yahoo, Moo’d Tweet, Slandr Mobile Twitter, tDash, Vodafone Update App for BlackBerry or iPhone

 TwitterCounter used in Slandr Mobile Twitter

 What The Trend? used in tDash

 Wikipedia used in Game Scootch

 Yahoo Term Extraction used in Local Twitter Trends with Google and Yahoo

 YouTube used in Game Scootch

Mashups of the day:
And each day there is one mashup selected to be Mashup of the Day. Here are last week’s winners:

 Game Scootch

 Ixcitable for Jigsaw

 Local Twitter Trends with Google and Yahoo

 Moo’d Tweet

 Party Map

 tDash

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ChartLyrics Lyric API: ChartLyrics is a lyrics database sorted by artists or songs. The Lyric API supports both a SOAP or REST interface to allow developers to access the full database. The API provides 2 functions: SearchLyric to search the available lyrics and GetLyric to retrieve the lyric.

iLime API: iLime is a solution for integrating Apple Push Notification Service (APNS). Push notifications can be sent as one of three types: a custom text alert, an icon badge number, or a custom sound. Responses are formatted in either XML or JSON.

MessageMost API: MessageMost is a short, mobile, and local messaging service. The MessageMost API allows developers access to data and user accounts to build applications that interact with the MessageMost network. The API can be used to build mobile, desktop, or Web applications or to interpret and visualize data.

NameCheap API: NameCheap offers domain registration and web hosting. The NameCheap API allows developers to build new web and desktop applications that integrate with the NameCheap account. It allows users to programmatically access account data from NameCheap.com and perform operations like domain check, registrations and renewals from within applications.

Sourcemap API: Sourcemap is project from the MIT Media Lab. It is a tool for producers, business owners and consumers to understand the impact of supply chains. The services lets you simulate the impact of manufacturing, transporting, using and throwing away products using our Life-Cycle Assessment calculator. This web-based tool uses linked data from geological and geographic resources. Each Sourcemap can be used to help market socially- and environmentally- conscious products and to buy carbon offsets.

Whoozy Person Search API: This API is part of the people search engine Whoozy. This API offers a RESTful interface to allow developers to search for a name in social networks, search engines, blogs, news, pictures, phone numbers, email addresses and more. Responses are formatted in either XML or JSON.

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Twitter founder Evan Williams announced the acquisition:

The Mixer Labs crew has been working on harnessing the power of local information for a couple years and just recently launched GeoAPI, a comprehensive service for helping developers build geolocation-aware applications. As of today, they’re part of Twitter and will be working to combine the contextual relevance of location to tweets. We want to know What’s happening?, and more precisely, Where is it happening? As a dramatic example, twittering “Earthquake!” alone is not as informative as “Earthquake!” coupled with your current location.

The acquisition, besides the promising technology, is also a talent grab. Business Insider points to at least four former Googlers. Their past includes experience with Google’s Mobile team and Gears, the platform which included a geolocation API (our Google Gears API profile). Twitter already employs Ryan Sarver, who previously worked on another geolocation product at Skyhook Wireless (our Skyhook Wireless API profile).

Though the team is bound to be busy with Twitter’s geolocation features, we hope this doesn’t mean the end for the GeoAPI platform. It’s a young service, but it still has a lot of promise.

At the very least, hopefully a more geo-enabled Twitter will provide the location-sharing platform that can reach mass adoption. Brady Forrest at O’Reilly Radar points out the possibilities:

Twitter has the opportunity to become a major location broker. Twitter currently has a very simple on/off switch for location. To become a full-fledged consumer location service (like Latitude or Fire Eagle) they will need to build in more controls.

Twitter’s Williams points to a more “location-aware future,” especially through apps using its API. We’re looking forward to following along.

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Twitter founder Evan Williams announced the acquisition:

The Mixer Labs crew has been working on harnessing the power of local information for a couple years and just recently launched GeoAPI, a comprehensive service for helping developers build geolocation-aware applications. As of today, they’re part of Twitter and will be working to combine the contextual relevance of location to tweets. We want to know What’s happening?, and more precisely, Where is it happening? As a dramatic example, twittering “Earthquake!” alone is not as informative as “Earthquake!” coupled with your current location.

The acquisition, besides the promising technology, is also a talent grab. Business Insider points to at least four former Googlers. Their past includes experience with Google’s Mobile team and Gears, the platform which included a geolocation API (our Google Gears API profile). Twitter already employs Ryan Sarver, who previously worked on another geolocation product at Skyhook Wireless (our Skyhook Wireless API profile).

Though the team is bound to be busy with Twitter’s geolocation features, we hope this doesn’t mean the end for the GeoAPI platform. It’s a young service, but it still has a lot of promise.

At the very least, hopefully a more geo-enabled Twitter will provide the location-sharing platform that can reach mass adoption. Brady Forrest at O’Reilly Radar points out the possibilities:

Twitter has the opportunity to become a major location broker. Twitter currently has a very simple on/off switch for location. To become a full-fledged consumer location service (like Latitude or Fire Eagle) they will need to build in more controls.

Twitter’s Williams points to a more “location-aware future,” especially through apps using its API. We’re looking forward to following along.

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Sourcemap is a tool for producers, business owners and consumers to understand the impact of supply chains. Our site is a social network where anyone can contribute to a shared understanding of the story behind products. You can simulate the impact of manufacturing, transporting, using and throwing away products using our Life-Cycle Assessment calculator. This web-based tool uses linked data from geological and geographic resources. Each ‘Sourcemap’ can be used to help market socially- and environmentally- conscious products and to buy carbon offsets.

This coverage at TreeHugger.com foresees an interesting future for the Sourcemap project:

Imagine a future in which pointing a PDA at a product bar code returns an instant readout of product source and environmental footprint to inform the buyer’s decision. This future could be reality with SourceMap. Designed as a “collective tool for transparency and sustainability,” SourceMap aims to be the Wiki of visualizing supply chains.

The web site uses a mashup of the Sourcemap data and Google Maps to display a product supply chain. With a bit of digging you can find some examples of just how complicated these supply chains can be.

Sourcemap also gives developers access to their service via a JSON REST API (our Sourcemap API profile). Documentation is a little bare, with developers having to work backwards from documentation that is generated automatically from Sourcemap deployments. However, since the project is only a beta at this point, hopefully the documentation will improve. KML files are also available, allowing the information to be displayed on Earth browsers such as Google Earth.

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