vinceyface 's review for:

How Music Got Free: The End of an Industry, the Turn of the Century, and the Patient Zero of Piracy by Stephen Witt

4.0

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This was an absolute delight, I remember reading the original article this book came from and was so fascinated and had to know more. This book focuses on 3 subjects; the creators of the MP3, the rise and consolidation of the big music labels, and the rise and fall of the original music piracy "scene groups". Mr. Witt is so skilled at weaving these tales together, you always have a very clear view of the cause and effect of the groups on each other. Honestly the first chunk that focuses on the creation of the MP3 was the most fascinating to me, I can't do it justice here but suffice to say the math that went into what sounds could be clipped or ignored to create a smaller file-size is fascinating. DEL GLOVER! I can't ignore him, his rise from a car-trunk bootleg seller to a piracy captain smuggling pre-release discs out of the pressing plant with a glove and a belt buckle... I can't keep talking about this or I'll spoil all the fun. Just trust me that if you have even a passing interest in how modern internet and technology effects music you need to check this book out.