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Napster Case Study Essay examples

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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 …show more content…

In terms of the artists and musicians, I believe that although they started out as losers, in the end, they ended up winning because for already discovered, well-known singers, they are getting the royalties they are owed and for new, up and coming artists, they are getting their name out there in a much less expensive way than before and still making some sort of money to support their dream. The agents and label companies will become winners as well through the transformations. The larger companies will most likely lose some strength and then gain back once they begin to find new artists and those artists begin to take off. The risk/reward of the digital market here will yield much more reward and their financial strength from the start will help them be a winner here. I feel the biggest loser in throughout the entire industry transformation is the packaging and CD production industry. Because CDs are no longer at an all time high, they will no longer be needed. There is very little need for this and it has almost become a niche market, barely used for music anymore, unless someone is burning their own music onto a CD. Albums being created and sold solely onto a CD has decreased substantially and within the next few years could become something in the past. This is the biggest loser by far through the music industry transformation. Although customers might think they are

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