The New York Times Takes a Look Back at Napster in 'Culture of Free'

In the 90’s, the concept of ‘free music’ was exclusive to busking musicians on the street, until Napster came along. Napster was one of the first names to be associated with online music piracy and the music industry has now evolved into a generation who know nothing else other than to expect their music for free. In this mini documentary, it explores how Napster rose to popularity and how Shawn Fanning created something that would change how the world perceives access to music forever. He focussed on peoples emotional ties and peoples general interest in music to overwhelm any sort of privacy or security concern in the idea of opening up their hard drives in the peer-to-peer service.

Watch the full documentary and learn about one of the first pioneers of the concept of music sharing.