napster
First of all how does Napster work? Napster is a software program created by 19 year old Shawn Fanning, through which users can swap songs over the Internet. Computer users visit Napster.com and download the free Napster program. Once the software is installed on the user’s hard drive, the user can locate songs stored on the computer of other Napster users by title and artist. Once a specific song is located the user double-clicks the title and the song starts to download on his/her hard drive in MP3 format (an audio file). The server does not contain the music, it only contains the name and location of the computers with the music files. Napster basically links the user who is searching for the song with the user who is willing to share it. This fairly new type of technology is called peer-to-peer communication and is exactly the same principle used in the Well-know chat rooms. Presently the Napster community has over 58 million users. Napster is an appealing, convenient and free way to get music to consumers. It has opened a lot of doors, and yet the music industry sees it as an ‘enemy’. Traditionally the record labels have been the essential link or middlemen between the artists and the consumer. They are the ones that dec . . .
At the time the VCR’s were seen as threats to the movie industry but time has proven that tape recordings are no substitute for professional recordings. Artists who were never given a chance can freely put their songs online. The old and traditional system used by the music industries, involved pushing the music to the consumer until they liked it. Napster has broken this link and has become the much more convenient intermediary between the artist and the consumer. ide and control what, when and where you are able to hear the songs that they choose. The same can be said about Napster; while songs can be downloaded, they are not CD quality and complete albums are hard to find on Napster. Both new technologies allowed people to record and duplicate copyrighted information. They need to come up with ideas to encourage people to buy CD’s. The music industry’s response to Napster is similar to the response to the introduction of cassette tapes and VCR’s. Napster challenges the music industry’s monopoly on distribution and this is why they are so defensive. Now with Napster, the choice is given back to the consumer. The internet is the peoples media and attempting to control it too much will go against the spirit of the virtual world. Napster facilitates international distribution to unsigned artists and creates competition. This competition has made the record labels furious and now they want people to pay for this service in order for them! to gain money. In the case of Napster nobody is making a profit.
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