Napster And MP3's

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorUniversity, Bachelor's April 2001

download word file, 4 pages 5.0

Napster and MP3s: Does it Help or Hurt?         In this era of growing concerns about digital music, increasing numbers of record companies continue to side with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) against the claims made toward the software company Napster. Shawn Fanning, a newly 19-year-old and creator of the Napster software never dreamed of the legalities that comes with such powerful software. His fame has become unprecedented in the past year or so. Having been on the covers of Fortune, BusinessWeek, Forbes and the Industry Standard, to guess appearances on the MTV Video Music Awards by introducing Britney Spears, a highly famous pop singer. The Napster software has made it easier for it's users around the world to find music of all kinds. From the newest hits to the oldest favorites, Napster combined the power of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, instant messaging, chat communities, and a powerful music search tool all into one package.

Love it or hate it, Napster has truly changed the world and the music industry for the better.

        Napster already ranks among the greatest Internet applications ever ranking highly with e-mail and instant messaging. In terms of users, the Napster site is the fastest growing in history, recently passing the 25 million mark in less than a year of operation, "[it has taken] AOL ten years to reach the 23 million subscribers it has today. By reports, downloading MP3 files recently became the most popular activity on the Net . . . " (Tully 186). The simplicity of the program is part of its genius. For its users, Napster has become another appliance, like a toaster or washing machine, call it the music appliance: log on, download, play songs. People don't want to know how it works; they just want it to work. For...