Music Downloads

David Jenkins

PERS 2730

In The Beginning…

In the 1950’s, a company called RCA (Radio Corporation of America) introduced the first synthesizer, which was an instrument that would enable people to study sound.

MIDI

• Almost 30 years later a company called Sequential Circuits introduced: MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface). This technology would allow the incorporation of vocals and music.

File Sharing

• After the invention of MIDI, several companies began to run with the idea of having music put on computers. With advances in technology music today can easily be transferred from players to computers. Once music began appearing on computers, people found ways to share their songs, at no cost. This process is known as file sharing.

Napster

• In the 1990’s, Shawn Fanning set out to create a program that would allow computer users everywhere to share their music through one centralized location, also at no cost. In 1999 he created Napster.

The Suit

• Napster almost immediately took off. Users began sharing and downloading songs from each other until Napster grew to an almost monopoly for music file sharing. It created such a craze that The Recording Industry Association of America finally filed a lawsuit against Napster. RIAA, backed especially by a band known as Metallica, claimed that Napster was infringing upon copyrights, and cheating artists out of their money.

The Decline, but not the end

• A court finally sided with Napster, claiming that the program was infringing on artists rights, and that users, as well as Napster, were responsible for this. Napster ended up creating a way for users to still use their site to download music, however it now costs them.

Music Downloads Today

• Today there are many different programs that allow users to download music, some for free, some not. However, there is no doubt that we all will see file sharing become more advanced as we progress through the years. Maybe one day there won’t even be cds, everyone will just download music to their handheld computers, and carry it with them wherever they go. Technology is always changing, but music has been around since the beginning of time, and I’m sure will stay around till the very end.