For anyone who has just downloaded the latest number one hit off of their favorite torrent site, please, a moment of silence...Napster is officially dead. For those of you who don't know, Napster was the original pet peeve of Lars Ulrich. For those of you who don't know who Lars Ulrich is, get a better taste in music. Napster made it possible for every person with a decent internet connection to have an unlimited amount of music for nothing, and in the process give the middle finger to every record label in the world. In other words, a win-win. They were the original Pirate Bay, Limewire and Frostwire. It was a website that nearly single-handedly jump started the digital music revolution, similar to the invention of the vinyl, cassette, and CD.
As a person who illegitimately acquires music (not torrents; Youtube converter, yo), it's a bit sad to see the website finally be shut down. After an extremely infamous beginning, they made several attempts to try to stay relevant by making people pay, but unless you're iTunes or Amazon, it won't work. After record companies had ruled supreme with an iron fist on the entire music industry for the past fifty years, Napster came along and broke all the rules, making music about the music and not about the money. Anyone who enjoys a band enough, they will eventually buy merchandise/concert tickets/physical copies of music, so the argument that the band doesn't make money is off-based. Napster was the kick in the butt the industry needed, and it's kinda sad to see it go.
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