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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
A fascinating look at the concurrent rise of digital music, fueled mostly by mp3 piracy, and the end of the CD's dominance. Very interesting insider look at an era that I remember very well. While never a huge participant in the events described here, I did know my way around Napster, Kazaa, and the like. Looking at the way artists market themselves today by using the Internet to let people listen to their music for free, it is crazy to remember how harsh the RIAA was while chasing down mp3 downloaders back in the day. Definitely not a winning strategy.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
While this book ended up being more business based than I expected (which honestly, looking back, my bad), it was still an easy and pleasurable read, especially as it reached periods of time where I could directly tie my own ipod downloads to specific, prolific figures.
I enjoyed the sympathetic focus on the pirates themselves, even as the book split its time between them and the business/tech moguls who decried the existence. I did find numerous things disappointing: most notably, the repeated statements that it's "fact" that piracy cost millions while sort of ambiguously stating there's "theories" that piracy did not hurt and even helped sales and the final lines of the epilogue, where Witt destroys his own hard drives of supposedly meaningless song files, failing to learn from his own texts the archival powers of pirated media.
Still, this was a very educational read that never felt too bogged down in convincing anyone to love or hate the subject matter and I can respect that.
I enjoyed the sympathetic focus on the pirates themselves, even as the book split its time between them and the business/tech moguls who decried the existence. I did find numerous things disappointing: most notably, the repeated statements that it's "fact" that piracy cost millions while sort of ambiguously stating there's "theories" that piracy did not hurt and even helped sales and the final lines of the epilogue, where Witt destroys his own hard drives of supposedly meaningless song files, failing to learn from his own texts the archival powers of pirated media.
Still, this was a very educational read that never felt too bogged down in convincing anyone to love or hate the subject matter and I can respect that.
I found myself interested and confused simultaneously by computer science lingo, excited by the gripping fate of music piracy, and very satisfied in the end. I was impressed with the objectivity (besides the opinions the author had on certain musicians), and didn't feel the push to be swayed by one side of the argument or the other.
informative
medium-paced
While digital music is ubiquitous today, I am sure few of us know the story behind its rise. The author, Stephen Witt, admittedly downloaded gigabytes of music from ABBA to ZZ Top during his college years. Curious about the story, he began a three year investigative journey which resulted in this Michael Lewis-esque book. Stephen weaves together three disparate and fascinating storylines about music, technology, business, and people. While the book is a complete narrative, it leaves readers plenty to think about as the music business model and technology (streaming) are still evolving, and asks some interesting questions regarding piracy and patents.
funny
informative
medium-paced
The author sounds a lot like Tobey Maguire and I couldn't shake the feeling I was listening to Spiderman narrate high piracy crime. It made the listening experience more memorable.
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
informative
tense
fast-paced
A great story which details an earth-shaking shift which took place under most of our radars!
Outstanding! Well-researched book that covers multiple threads that intertwine nicely. Stephen Witt has made a potentially dry subject very engaging and accessible.
As someone who was part of the Scene back in the day, this book is a chronicle of my youth 1995 - 2005. I felt instantly at home and enjoyed the chance to revisit those days. Non-fiction with the thrill of fiction in a technical/business subject is increidbly tough to do and the author makes a great standing of his first published work.
My only complaint is this book could use an addendum in a few years as streaming is changing things considerably, but he at least manages to discuss this aspect in the epilogue.
Recommended for anyone interested in music technology, the late 90s, IRC, the Scene, and the music industry
As someone who was part of the Scene back in the day, this book is a chronicle of my youth 1995 - 2005. I felt instantly at home and enjoyed the chance to revisit those days. Non-fiction with the thrill of fiction in a technical/business subject is increidbly tough to do and the author makes a great standing of his first published work.
My only complaint is this book could use an addendum in a few years as streaming is changing things considerably, but he at least manages to discuss this aspect in the epilogue.
Recommended for anyone interested in music technology, the late 90s, IRC, the Scene, and the music industry