What happened to Napster? The wild story behind the startup that revolutionized music.
By Russel Read
5 Hours Ago WASHINGTON (CIRCA) — Imagine, for a moment, a world in which there was no Spotify. No Apple Music. Not even Pandora or iTunes.
A world in which your only access to new music came from the whims of a radio station DJ and frequent visits to a local record store. Now, imagine that world was completely flipped on its head in an instant, and every person with a stable internet connection could have access to hundreds of thousands of songs. All for free.
This was the world briefly created by Napster, the brainchild of a teenage computer whiz named Shawn Fanning and his friend, Sean Parker. At a time when the music recording industry had an iron grip on music sales, Napster was the ultimate disruptive technology. And while it only lasted for about two years, its impact was monumental.
So, whatever happened to Napster?
To answer that question, we must journey back to the turn of the new millennium.
The year was 1999. The world was worried the Y2K bug was about to bring about Armageddon, fans were wondering if Ross and Rachel would get back together on "Friends," and Fanning and Parker were preparing to release Napster to the world.
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https://www.circa.com/story/2019/03/06/music/napster-the-wild-story-behind-the-startup-that-revolutionized-music
