The $113B Mistake That Killed Napster

[TMC]

In 1999, teenager Shawn Fanning wrote a simple program to help his college roommates share music. Within two years, 80 million people were using Napster to break federal copyright law every single day.

What happened next was the most explosive legal battle in entertainment history. Metallica sued their own fans. Congressional hearings made headlines worldwide. The entire music industry declared war on the technology that would eventually save them.

But when the courts destroyed Napster, something far worse emerged from its ashes. The industry’s legal victory created an unstoppable hydra of anonymous networks that nearly brought down the entire business.

This is the incredible true story of how one teenager’s dorm room project accidentally revolutionized how we consume music forever - and why every streaming service today exists because of what happened in that small college room.

🎧 Did you ever imagine that a dorm room app could change the entire music industry forever?

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• 00:00 – The Dorm Room Revolution
• 01:55 – The Accidental Empire
• 03:53 – The 80 Million Pirates
• 05:34 – When Metallica Declared War
• 07:22 – The Senate Showdown
• 09:19 – The Courtroom Execution
• 10:52 – The Hydra Effect
• 12:53 – The Revolution That Won