Napster - Treble in the Music Industry

Treble in the Music Industry

Close to four months ago, when I heard the word ‘Napster’ I thought it was a new phrase for telling people they had nappy hair. I had no idea what it was, but yet I heard everyone around me talking about it, so I surfed on the internet and decided to check it out. I went ahead and downloaded it the program, not knowing four months from now Napster would have a tremendous influence and impact in the music industry, changing the way we view music forever.

First of all, what is Napster? Napster is a program created by Shawn Fanning, an 18 year old ‘inarticulate’ teenager, who was frustrated trying to find good music on the internet ,and how so many of the pointers on the websites offering current music seem to only led to dead ends.it is a program enabling users to “transfer music files directly without going through a centralized file server or middle man.” (Greenfield 1), Napster is program that freed a vast library of copyrighted music, turning the music industry on its head.

For obvious reasons, recording artists as well as record companies are in opposition to napster, which are the loss in profit and sales and piracy issues that deal with copyright regulation and code. As Greenfield states, “ Napster has forced the record companies to rethink their business models and record company lawers and recording artists to defend their intellectual property.” Changing the way the record companies have been operating their business for centuries by an 18 year old ‘inarticulate’ teenager is not an easy pill to swallow the record companies take much offense to this partially because Napster is the fastest growing site in history, passing the 25 million mark in less than a year of operation. ( Greenfield) and potentially taking away 25 million consumers from their business. Napster sends a disruptive message of change to the music industry, kicking out the old and bringing in the new and because of this the profitable orderly business of recording, promoting and selling music will never be the same again. Basically the music industry will become obsolete, thus losing jobs in the music industry, but according to TIME magazine, “ record sales have gone up and there is virtually no indication that record sales are at a loss.”(pg.56) due to Napster, and free internet