ICYMI – Napster Broke the Music Industry. Then Became It
Music industry commentator Eric Alper on the two years that permanently rewired how the world hears music, and why the streaming subscription you pay today traces directly back to a college kid’s side project in 1999.
Before Napster, hearing a specific song meant buying an entire album or catching it on the radio. Within months of launch, millions of people were trading files from their bedrooms, and the expectation of instant, free, on-demand music was set in place so firmly it has never reversed.
The story behind the labels’ slow response, why Metallica and Dave Matthews couldn’t have been further apart on what Napster meant, and what the iTunes dollar-twenty-nine era taught everyone about what music is actually worth.
Topics: Napster, music piracy, streaming history, iTunes, digital music rights
GUEST: Eric Alper | http://thatericalper.com
Originally aired on2026-06-18
