The music business in 2000 has been dominated by the trials and tribulations of Napster. This simple music file sharing application developed by American Shawn Fanning, has proved to be the fastest growing software application in history, being found on over 30% of American computers.

What Napster does, is allow the user to organise MP3 files, (tracks from music CD's copied onto computer hard disks, in a digitally compressed audio format), into a library. These recordings can then be made available to anyone else online. Napster facilitates the search and exchange of these files, together with chat rooms and also provides an MP3 player. No files are actually hosted on servers by Napster.

Since the launch of Napster, 38 million people decided that this is an application to have on their computers. Other sites offering similar facilities have sprung up and sites specialising in MP3 files are legion, making 'MP3' now the most frequently searched for word on the web.

Napster's success has been duplicated in Europe where the site is in the top five sites visited in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Ireland, France, Britain and Italy, according to Nielsen/ NetRatings.

In fact the use of Napster is even higher than any ratings reveal because once the file sharing application is downloaded the user no longer has to check into the Napster site. They can simply organise their own file library.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) representing the music publishing business was not slow to react to react to the threat, which it considers nothing less than organised piracy. It has sued Napster and a similar file storage company, MP3.com for millions of dollars in lost earnings and copyright infringement. The RIAA had previously tried and failed to stop MP3 music players, now it seemed determined to make a stand. The decision may not have been altogether wise. Napster is a good example of Peer-to-Peer computing use (P2P) but at least it uses a central clearing house and can obtain customer data. Similar programs let you bypass traditional (and probably regulated and commercially controlled) distribution sites completely, putting a powerful tool in the hands of those who believe property should be communally owned. File sharing programmes like Gnutella and Scour are good examples.

By not adapting rapidly enough to the new technology, by maintaining prices very high to low-income students possessing institutional fast Internet connections, the music business was asking for trouble.

A position not lost on one of the music giants Bertelsman, who in a dramatic about-turn in November, changed sides and announced a financial deal with Napster, which would allow both companies to collaborate on file sharing and fee-paying solutions. The deal surprised people on both sides of the digital music divide. The situation became even more bizarre when the other music publishing giant, Universal Music Group, the world's largest music company (now part of Vivendi Universal), after having successfully attacked a similar MP3 site, MP3.com, found itself being sued by a different music publishing group the National Music Publishers Association for copyright infringement. MP3.com,equally in the sights of the RIAA has also signed agreements with the established recording industry companies. (see chart )

By going legitimate Napster and MP3.com may have escaped some costly litigation but in reality and judging from past experience, potential users will probably go elsewhere, rather than pay for access to copyrighted music.

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