System Shock

The music world was forever changed when an American teenager named Shawn Fanning started Napster in his dorm room. In doing so, he triggered a momentous shift in how media is consumed everywhere.

With music flowing freely over the internet and nobody paying for it, record companies sought to curb online piracy with the help of celebrities, ad campaigns, and a flood of lawsuits. This episode explores how the music industry, the RIAA, and the U.S. Government went head-to-head with the emerging platforms like Napster, KaZaa, iTunes and more in a battle over music rights and money.

As artists make less money in the online marketplace, some are skipping labels entirely and going straight to fans in a bid to build loyalty, hawk merchandise... and of course, sell music. This episodes explores the rise of streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora and others as the era of the mp3 gives way to music in the cloud.