...Napster & MP3: Redefining The Music Industry Introduction Napster was the first, very innovative music technology application that allowed users to download MP3 from the internet and other peers for free, or at a cost. Napster strongly adapted the word sharing and put it their own terms to avoid any copyright infringement but it ended badly on their part. This disruptive technology was leading the market and had over 60 million users by 2001. Although very similar technologies were soon after developed, Napster was still on top and lead the market. Many users knew exactly what they wanted but getting it seemed to be the difficult part once Napster and the RIAA went into a legal battle. More commonly, the industry has been shaped from Napster and the base product that has been derived. Napster may have been a failure to the industry but it shaped the industry for the future from 2001 until present and for years to come. 1. What is Napster’s business model? Being as though Napster was the first to market with their music search engine for MP3 files, they successfully managed to set up an online community where users could download these files. Napster had its market segments and was targeting the college and high school demographic, as described in the case study. The main objective was to give users the opportunity to listen to the songs before they wanted to go ahead and purchase them. During the dot.com boom, when Napster was created, it seemed as though the developers...
Words: 1767 - Pages: 8
...Music piracy on the Internet has become a major issue because of the invention of Napster, software that allows people to share Mp3s, compressed CD-quality sound files (Greenfeld 57). Since this program provides currently 38 million users throughout the world the ability to share pirated music Mp3s, it has become the object of many lawsuits by music record companies. Napster should be regulated in order to control music piracies. Firstly, the piracy is simply against the copyright law. Secondly, using Napster to share pirated music between homes and the world causes retail recordings to fall short in their market sales. Piracy is simply against the copyright law, which is on almost everything that is created by someone who wants to claim the credit for it, including music. Everybody is aware of this law, yet it is ignored and broken again and again. It is just like any other law, and so people should be prevented from breaking this one. By regulating Napster, this law can be once again enforced. Using the program steals away the credit from artists. This is because instead of going to stores and purchasing the artists’ CDs like the old-fashioned way, online users now download the song off the Internet, without paying a dime in today’s rapidly developing technology. Napster takes the credit that the artists’ should rightfully obtain. Thus, the sales’ of the artists’ CDs drop down and pretty soon fewer and fewer customers are going into stores actually buying the CDs that...
Words: 492 - Pages: 2
...Jean Baghboudarian BAD 318 28-October-2014 1- What was illegal about Napster? Explain briefly. On June 1999, Napster was launched. Napster was a program that allowed computer users to share high quality digital copies of music recordings through a centralized file server. Napster functioned as a sort of clearing house, where members could search for songs and download them from another member’s hard drive. Barely a year after its launch, Napster was sued by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which represents major recording companies. Napster was accused of violating copyright by facilitating other peoples’ infringement, since it allowed users to swap music recordings for free and thus not properly compensating the owners of the material. 2- What is positive contribution of Napster to the music industry? The RIAA claimed that song swapping via Napster and similar firms had cost the music industry more than $ 300 million in lost sales. Lars Ulrich, Metallica’s drummer, stated that users are basically stealing from the band every time they download one of its songs. Despite of threats to the music industry that the RIAA claimed because of the online sharing of music files that was pioneered by Napster; the growth in the online music market has been remarkable and is expected to explode over the years. The researches and surveys conducted on the effects of online music distribution revealed that the online market provided more positive contribution...
Words: 590 - Pages: 3
...music that was used by Napster became a huge legal barrier to this company up to closing down their business. New Napster's owner, Roxio, has been trying different strategies to cover increase their revenue and customers again. There are different strategies for Napster to increase its market share in this market. This report will provide few strategies that would be efficient for Napster to compete with their competitors specially Apple and Rhapsody. Reputation! In today's market is has becoming increasingly important for organizations to posses a strong brand name and reputation. People everywhere recognize Napster. Why? Because it was the first company to offer digital music downloading. This provides Napster with a huge advantage over its competitors. Unfortunately because it was the innovator of this new technology Napster had to deal with copyright infringement charges brought about by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America). Despite the fact that Napster emerged from this battle they sti... ... middle of paper ... ...e major worldwide record labels such as Sony, EMI, BMG, Warner Music, and others to distribute digital copies of their music would be a smart business decision to take business away from iTunes and other major competitors. Another option is to collaborate technologies. For example, they might think about partnering with telephone companies that would implement Napster as their online downloading hub. Napster must recognize that they...
Words: 259 - Pages: 2
...been under great scrutiny in the last few years. Napster, if any one symbolizes the new technology, was the front runner in developing the new digital trading. The ethical issues seem to revolve around the all mighty dollar. Some particular musicians, namely Lars Ulrich from Metallica and Dr. Dre (rap star), have had some serious issues with Napster. Their claims have merit, but so do the claims of the creator and users of Napster. Napster was created in 1999 by a college dropout named Sean Fanning. Napster allows users to swap digital song files over the internet easily and most of all free. Millions of people used Napster to retrieve almost any song a person could think of, for example, songs that are current number one hits to the other songs from the "one-hit-wonders." Napster created a way for people world wide to exchange or share music files quickly and easily. This causes the ethical dilemma on whether trademark rights are being infringed or is "sharing" the music files legal and ethical. In 1984, the Supreme Court allowed the public to use the VCR to record televisions shows as long as it was not intended for commercial use. In 1992, "the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 made it clear that you can use a digital audio tape player or other similar gadgets to record digital music for personal, noncommercial use. So there's plenty of precedent for song swapping." This is a major part in the creation and use of Napster. These acts state everything the Mr. Fanning needs...
Words: 1318 - Pages: 6
...matters pertaining to this era of mass internet usage. One of the most significant examples of such a case can be found in the Napster copyright infringement that occurred early in the twenty-first century. Napster proves to be a unique and worthy example for the reason being that the online file sharing service had been recognized to directly infringe the exclusive rights of artistes by freely distributing their musical projects online. Napster was developed in 1999 by Sean Fanning and Sean Parker, and it served as an independent, internet-based peer-to-peer file sharing service. The service used digital technology that created the opportunity for users to transmit and retain sound recordings. The service quickly gained immense popularity especially among students across the United States, who became the largest proportion of Napster’s subscribers. As Napster’s reputation grew, several recording companies such as A&M via the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) began to contest Napster, in order to regain dominance in the music industry. This caused Napster faced many allegations and lawsuits stating that its operations revolved around the commercial recording, distribution and sale of copyrighted musical material and sound recordings. Thus, one of the most significant arguments that were brought up during these objections against Napster, was the fact that the artistes who produced the musical compositions that were being...
Words: 6133 - Pages: 25
...Information Technology Acts University of Phoenix Gustavo Perez Bis 220 April 14 2014 Jorge L. Berrios Trinidad Information Technology Acts Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) After the creation of Napster, the music p2p sharing system that is computer to computer. We started to see a rise or increase in what is now known by online piracy. Then people shared their music without knowing the legal consequences which incurred. Thanks to the creation of the MP3 music format, made it extremely easy to share on the internet entire music collection. Because of this group Metallica rock music and the record companies filed lawsuits against the Napster service. Then emerged others based on napster to share not only music systems, but also computer programs, movies, etc. In 2011 the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, proposed the Stop Piracy Act or SOPA, which pretended to attack online piracy by extending existing laws against trafficking of copyrighted content and counterfeit goods through the internet. The penalty for a person to forward copyright material ten (10) or more times in a period of six (6) months would expose a sentence of up to 5 years in jail. One of the ethical issues, was referring to the freedom of people in the internet. As mentioned earlier the creation of digital formats that allow people to share their music libraries and other files over the Internet, creating the torrent format...
Words: 641 - Pages: 3
...will analyze the case study of Napster uses of marketing mix is 7P's (People, Place, Prices, Product, Promotion, Process, and Physical Evident) in order to compete with traditional markets and other online music provider. Product Product is the first element in the 7P's. In the first period, Napster entirely offers technology products and services. The advent of it has solved the pain is music search, download music more easily online in MP3 format. Shawn Fanning- the founder of Napster has created a huge online player and completely free. However, Napster got in big trouble about copyright in the music market. The first 2 years has built a strong brand for Napster with the users. Until 2003, with the start of the new owner, Napster once more time come back in the field of online music. Napster provides to customer the proactive in music. That means the customer have power to control the content and right to access their own account any time they want. Besides that, they also give customer a chance to hear trial before they purchase their product which do not happened with the bigger competitor is Apple. With the flexible and differentiation in developing product, Napster have more competitive advantages than other. Prices After come back, Napster sales the music with $1/song, as same as Apple. However, after that, they bring the other offer to customer whom customers only have to pay $10/ month and they can hear unlimited song call “Napster...
Words: 592 - Pages: 3
...on a verity of different platforms such as our computers/laptops, phones, iPods and even home gaming devices. We can now listen to music 'on-the-go' and that means we aren't confined into listening to music in certain circumstances - i.e., sitting in front of a CD player. We listen to music how, where and whenever we want to. Over the past decade, this has become normality and is how the majority of the world listens to music, proving extremely popular to millions of people. In 1999, ‘ Sean Parker’ and ‘Shawn Fanning’, two 18-year-old college students, changed the music industry forever with their file-sharing program called Napster, which enabled users to swap and share music files on their computer. The introduction of the program meant people could go online and download any song on the program for absolutely nothing. Believe it or not, when Napster first launched, most people were opposed to listening to music digitally. People still wanted to listen to the music they bought on CD players. It was...
Words: 2921 - Pages: 12
...Assess how Napster competes with traditional and online music providers by reviewing the approaches it uses for different elements of the marketing mix. Product Napster’s primary source of income comes from the company’s product which is streaming music service available through subscription. The company has also offered sale of compatible MP3 players through extended product offerings. Over 2 million tracks can be streamed, downloaded and purchased individually or in an album through on-demand access for subscribers of Napster. This shows the broad product range of Napster of more than 2 million although it may not be a contender to giant online supplier like iTunes. Price For music stored in a computer or in an MP3 player, Napster charges differently on a monthly subscription basis. Subscribers are given the options to purchase tracks by album or price with discounts for purchases in bulk. Subscription and permanent download fees are paid by end-user customers in advance via credit card. Place In effort to widen the services of Napster besides the Internet being the primary place of distribution, colleges, radio stations and stores selling MP3 players are being approached for this purpose. Retail outlets and megastores cannot outdo the capability that Napster has in search for more music which the website can offer. Napster provided subscribers with a very direct to customer distribution channel in which it requires no physical presence which in turn leads to cutting...
Words: 329 - Pages: 2
...The Napster Controversy: RIAA vs. Napster In the summer of 1999, a website, www.napster.com, was launched in the US - and the global music industry was changed forever. Napster was a system which enabled musicians and music fans to locate music available in the MP3, and WMA1 music formats. The website made it possible for its users to freely share their music files through the Internet with other users all over the world. Napster maintained a database of music files held on the computer hard-drives of other registered Napster users. A user, looking for a particular song, sent his request to Napster. The software then checked the availability of that song with this database, and if available, sent it to the user who requested the song. The service became extremely popular within a short span of time. The website attracted 1.6 million simultaneous users during the height of its popularity in February 2000. Napster's offering of this 'peer-to-peer' technology was strongly condemned by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a trade group representing the world's biggest record labels, Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, EMI Group and Bertelsmann AG. RIAA alleged that Napster was engaging in or assisting others in copying copyrighted music without payment or the express permission of the rights owners. RIAA also claimed that Napster would significantly harm the sales of the recording industry. In December 1999, the body sued Napster in the Federal...
Words: 457 - Pages: 2
...36) The court concluded that the description of contributory copyright infringement was accurate in describing what Napster was doing. The court then found in the case of Napster, that their “failure to police the system’s premises, combined with a showing that Napster financially benefits from the continuing availability of infringing files on its system, leads to the imposition of vicarious liability.” (Napster, 2001, p. 53) These findings lead to the court ruling against...
Words: 1620 - Pages: 7
...Digital Distribution and the Music Industry in 2001: a Case Study of Napster By Julius Danjuma IS650: Telecommunications Management Summer 2012 Overview: Shawn Fanning created Napster in his dorm room at Northeastern. It was the fastest-growing application in the history of the Internet which changed the world but failed to achieve business success. Napster started out as a free download tool but the goal was to make it into a real business in partnership with the record labels. The goal at Napster was to be the online distribution channel for the record labels, much like iTunes for example. There were several offers made to the labels that would have given them the vast majority of all of the revenue. The numbers were staggering. There were over 50 million users, many of whom were willing to pay $5 per month or $1 per download for digital music. That translates to about $250M a month or $3B per year. Even if Napster kept just 10% of the revenue that would be $300M per year against expenses of less than $10M. At the stock market multiples of the day that would have been a $15B IPO. The economics of the record industry are puzzling and their accounting methods are very creative. At the time CD’s were sold for about $17 at retail. The retailer and distributor took more than half of the price as their mark-up. The manufacturing costs took another couple bucks. The promotional costs of advertising, music video, payola to radio stations, and other PR typically...
Words: 2678 - Pages: 11
...What is SOPA/PIPA? An Analysis of SOPA and its Influence on the Internet, Business and Consumer Engagement Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………….3 International Approach…………………………………………...…………….8 MegaUpload Case Study…………………………………………...…………… Pros: SOPA…………………………………………...……………………………… Cons: SOPA…………………………………………...……………………………… Ethical Considerations……………………………………………...…………… Conclusion…………………………………………...………………………………. 1 Introduction The mid 1990s were the genesis of the Internet as know and use it today. It’s immersion into every day culture and commerce, revolutionized the way we communicate and acquire information. Today, the Internet is a worldwide platform in which discussion forums, blogs and social networks dictate much of the culture of today’s society. The communication infrastructure of the Internet is one of the fastest growing in history. It’s big boom came in the late 1990s when it is estimated that traffic grew by “100 percent per year, while the mean annual growth in the number of Internet users was thought to be between 20% and 50%.”1 Experts agree that this extraordinary growth is mainly attributed to the lack of a watchdog in a virtually free space that lives in an intangible world, as is the case with the set of communication protocols that we call the Internet. The deficiency of a central administration allows the network to grow free and organically...
Words: 3214 - Pages: 13
...Article Review "Napster" The 1990s was the dawning of the file sharing technology. This was a remarkable way for teens to get the music they desired for no cost, they sharing P2P, peer to peer. Napster changed the way people got music, but they technique of sharing did not quite sit well with the artist and record studios. In July 2000 a temporary – injunction ruling issued against Napster that halted the spread of file sharing services. This injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Marilyn Patel who would not listen to any of the arguments the attorneys for Napster put forth and she ruled that filing sharing was not protected under the fair-use provisions in the 1992 Audio Home Recording Act (Fitzpatrick, 2000). The Judge believed that this program was promoted and created to facilitate downloading and pirating with piracy being the utmost in their minds (Fitzpatrick, 2000). During the proceedings it was brought to light that 14000 downloads happen every minute, resulting in 12 million to 30 million a day, this evidence was very damning against Napster. Napster had to reformat their business format making their site a membership site, where they pay for the downloadable music. They ensure that they pay the correct people for the use of their material. Chapter 24 of the class text refers to what Napster did as copyright infringement. There are three theories of infringement; direct, indirect and vicarious (Melvin, 2011). Napster was guilty of a being the facilitator...
Words: 501 - Pages: 3
