MP3 and Napster

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Technology

MP3 and Napster · At the Fraunhofer Institute in Erlangen, Karlheinz Brandenburg and his colleagues, among others, developed the MP3: a file format that leaves out what the ear barely hears. A song becomes about ten times smaller as a result. In June 1999, the student Shawn Fanning in Boston, with Sean Parker, released Napster, a program with which millions of people downloaded MP3s from one another's computers for free. Metallica and the record companies went to court, and in 2001 Napster went offline. The sharing carried on, and CD sales never recovered.

Listening

• 
  Tom's Diner · Suzanne Vega, 1987
• 
  I Disappear · Metallica, 2000
• 
  Everything in Its Right Place · Radiohead, 2000

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Genre Map · Technology^NL Map

See also

• iPod and the iTunes Store
• Streaming (Spotify)
• Compact disc (CD)