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Tech District · VIDEO ESSAY

The Rise and Fall of Napster, the Teenage Startup That Broke the Music Industry

Napster didn’t just change how people downloaded music — it forced the entire music industry to rethink how songs were distributed, sold, and controlled. This video explores the rise and fall of the teenage startup that exploded into a global file-sharing phenomenon, triggered massive lawsuits, challenged record labels, and helped pave the way for the streaming era. From Shawn Fanning’s original idea to Napster’s legal battles and shutdown, this is the story of the platform that broke the old music business model and changed digital music forever.

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About this video

Napster didn’t just change how people downloaded music — it forced the entire music industry to rethink how songs were distributed, sold, and controlled. This video explores the rise and fall of the teenage startup that exploded into a global file-sharing phenomenon, triggered massive lawsuits, challenged record labels, and helped pave the way for the streaming era.

From Shawn Fanning’s original idea to Napster’s legal battles and shutdown, this is the story of the platform that broke the old music business model and changed digital music forever.

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