Spotify, amongst many other interesting startups to have popped up over the last decade, reinvented the music industry; giving us access to whatever track we want –whenever and wherever we want it.
It all started with Napster, which let students exchange music collections without having to carry tapes or CDs. In short order, Napster revolutionized the world of music. Anyone with the Napster app could download music through peer-to-peer technology without having to pay a thing. Labels got worried and lawsuits ensued; the result was a Supreme Court against the company in favor of record labels. Napster evolved, however, not everyone was pleased. In fact, many argued that the company was a great service for music, promoting national artists internationally and helping people share music with each other (after all, it was for the common good!). Although the technology caused problems for recording studios with declining CD sales, it continued to benefit ‘music’ in more ways than one.
