Napster research

Napster was founded in 1999 by John Flanning. Shawn Flanning and Sean Parker.  The website was oringinally a peer-to-peer file sharing system but transformed into sharing mp3 file which caused problems within the music industry.  It was special for this reason as it was one of the first websites to do this.  Napster had over five million users with its first year of being released, and at the end of 2000 they had estimated around 75 million users.  Overall most users (aged around 14-30) found this software very useful as it aquired them free mp3 files which could expand to more people.  When Napster was at its peak it was said that 10,000 were shared every 5 seconds.  Some artist found Napster's method of transferring music a positive method of advertising and promotion.  The Beastie Boys used their official website as the launching pad to deliver several songs free to fans.  In exchange, the Beastie Boys required downloaders to give their e-mail addresses to be used in future marketing efforts.  However other artists found that Napster was 'stealing' there music and tried to shut down the system.  Artists like Madonna, who attacked Napster for having songs from upcoming albums available before release, have exceeded album sale expectations.  Artists had not authorized their songs to be released through Napster or another service, the potential for such a market was clear.  In July 2001, Napster shut down its entire network in order to comply with the injunction  In 2001, the case was partially settled. Napster agreed to pay music creators and copyright owners a $26 million settlement for past, unauthorized uses of music, as well as an advance against future licensing royalties of $10 million. In order to pay those fees, Napster attempted to convert their free service to a subscription system.