Man, the nineties were a trip, but nothing and I mean nothing could have prepared us for the craziness that was Napster. I’d like to think that for a small period in the nineties there were more people downloading free shit on Napster than there were causing crimes in the streets. Just tons of music,programs,pics and…porn. Looking back, I never really put into perspective how detrimental this website was going to be to the entertainment industry, but the years post Napster have giving birth to sites that took elements of what Napster did and are making trillions off of it. Itunes, Spotify, Soundcloud, Pandora all owe in some way, shape or form Napster a debt of gratitude. Napster single-handedly ushered in the mp3 era. Businesses like Virgin Megastore,Tower Records, Camelot Music and 
Musicland all fell because no one was buying CD‘s anymore. I’ll admit shedding a slight tear for that, but having access and quick access to the shit we want has and always will be paramount. Everything in it’s right place, I remember artist bitching about what Napster was doing, but it was because they couldn’t see the future, if they had, they would’ve saw what was to come as one of the biggest business opportunities of the 21 century. No one saw it, except for companies like Apple, whose ceo Steve Jobs, must’ve been standing by with all his lawyers waiting for the verdict in the Napster case to drop so he could swoop in and begin his grand design and oh what a design it is.
Look people, there is no sure fire method of music distribution. The artist have always been on the loosing end of the stick when it comes to what is owed them. That’s why it was kind of funny to me when the whole Napster thing was happening that so many “under contract” musician’s were running to the side of their labels to bad mouth what Napster was doing, when all the label was doing was trying to figure out how they could keep the money out of the artist hands. The issue was never about free music it was about the money the labels were loosing. I’m sure these things will be covered in this long over due documentary directed by Alex Winters.
There’s no word about a release. This documentary is being produced by VH1 Rock Docs so it might air on there at some point. My best guess is that it will be on Netflix real soon. You can check out the directors Alex Winters personal website for more news about this amazing film!
Via @Firstshowing.net: Downloaded: The Digital Revolution is a VH1 Rock Doc production directed by Alex Winter, who made the leap from acting to directing with Freaked in 1993 and Fever in 1999. The doc focuses on the advent of digital media sharing, including the rise of game changing company Napster and controversial pioneers Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker. The digital revolution ultimately created a technology paradigm shift, upended big business and musical artists and changed the world.
DOWNLOADED from Trouper on Vimeo.
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