Sonic Boom: Napster, MP3, and the New Pioneers of Music [Hardcover]

John Alderman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 7, 2001

Digital compression technologies such as MP3 and Napster are having an explosive impact on the way music is distributed. Every day, hundreds of thousands of music files are searched for, shared, recorded, and listened to by computer and Web users-all free of charge. It's a boon for consumers and a disaster for record companies, and the end result can be nothing less than a cultural and economic transformation.Sonic Boom is a fascinating narrative of the controversy that's sending shock waves through the music industry. It's the story of musicians such as the Beastie Boys and Public Enemy, who are reaching fans without record company support; entrepreneurs who are distributing MP3 files without licensing agreements; and record-industry executives who are fighting for their business at every turn. It reveals how, even as the star-maker machinery of record companies remains in the hands of the old guard, innovators are finding ways to outsmart it. Peopled with a sensational cast of characters that includes rock stars, music moguls, teenagers, and Internet entrepreneurs, Sonic Boom exposes the recording industry's plight as a fascinating microcosm of the vast cultural, ethical, and legal issues that all industries face in the information age.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Napster may or may not be a factor in the music scene of the future, but its extraordinary rise--and the attention it focused on the MP3 digital audio format--has ensured its status as a key figure in bringing this new type of sound recording to public consciousness. Sonic Boom, by veteran cyberjournalist John Alderman, cogently recounts the brief but tumultuous story that led up to this upstart song-trading exchange attracting 500,000 users each night--along with the wrath of the traditional recording industry. But Napster is hardly the entire story when it comes to the MP3 revolution, and Alderman is wise to focus significant attention on other important players. These include the Internet Underground Music Archive, an early Web site launched to help bands reach a wider audience; MP3.com, whose domain name initially made it the central gathering point for online music fans; Liquid Audio and RealAudio, two of the first established efforts to facilitate sound transmittal over the Net; the Grateful Dead, Todd Rundgren, and Beastie Boys, a few of the independent-minded, techno-savvy musicians whose connection vastly boosted interest; and the Recording Industry Association of America, the old-line trade group that squeezed Napster and put its very future in question. Hardcore tune traders may not be interested in all the machinations Alderman describes, but those drawn to the business side of music and the Internet, as well as the debate over intellectual property rights in the electronic world, should find his account of the still-unfolding drama an engaging and illuminating read. --Howard Rothman

From Booklist

Alderman considers digital-compression technologies, such as Napster and MP3, and their effect on the music biz. Whereas radio fed the sixties counterculture's view of rock as progressive, recent technological advances let music-makers reach fans directly; the Beastie Boys and Public Enemy are only two of the most visible examples of those who do. The personal control this relationship between musicians and fans allows feeds the sense of intimacy between player and listener and frees musicians from constraints that concerned parties, such as parents and WalMart, might place on their output. Enthusiastic and bursting with detail on Napster's legal contretemps, Sonic Boom is timely and vital, especially for the technologically oriented. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; 1st edition (August 7, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738204056
• ISBN-13: 978-0738204055
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,664,695 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Examines the advent of Napster and the response of musicians, October 16, 2001

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sonic Boom: Napster, MP3, and the New Pioneers of Music (Hardcover)

What happens when rock stars fight business over copyright issues and online downloads? Sonic Boom examines the advent of Napster, the response of musicians, and the fans who have come to view access to free music as a right. Blend in assessments of new technologies and key issues of artists' rights and you have an absorbing musical and cultural history.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BUY da Boom (bada bing)..., January 8, 2002

By 

R. Hendee (Norcross, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sonic Boom: Napster, MP3, and the New Pioneers of Music (Hardcover)

I ordered this book when it was first released and it sat in a big pile of "future-reads" until months later. When I finally got around to picking it up I couldn't put it down. For someone who has closely followed the digital music revolution from the early days, it was more a trip down memory lane than anything but I definately learned some interesting tidbits along the way. Chronicling approximately a 4 year span of efforts from companies and characters from the pre-Napster days (Goodnoise and Liquid) to the post-Napster era (Gnutella and the peer-to-peer craze) and everything in between, this book is a quick and fun read. If you're into music and technology and have followed the bitter but inevitable marriage of the two, you'll enjoy this historical romp down memory lane.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Only if you're genuinely interested.., May 7, 2003

By 

"wuscorp1" (Milwaukee, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sonic Boom: Napster, MP3, and the New Pioneers of Music (Hardcover)

An excellent documentary of a tale that may initially conclude as the music industry's final straw with musicians and fans alike. Unfortunately, author John Alderman might have jumped the gun with timing the release of this book, because the war over 'all things MP3' is just now starting to heat up. With that being said, "Sonic Boom" is surely your best bet for research on music copyright and the conflict over its piracy. More importantly, however, this book explicitly warns the music industry about repeating mistakes of the past: ignoring technological advances, and the Internet's definite position in the future of music sales. It covers the twists and turns of the over-celebrated court case against Napster, while underlining how the collapse of traditional economics of the music industry was not completely inevitable. Alderman repeatedly returns to the notion that if different decisions had been made at particular moments, it might have been possible to preserve copyright within cyberspace. According to the author, the failure to create a virtual marketplace for selling music was a fatal error. Instead of using all their lobbying power and legal resources to attack the Net, the industry's corporate leaders should have been working out qualms in developing technologies, so that the fan and musician would prosper in today's rapid Internet growth. However, copyright laws were strengthened, Napster was prosecuted, and blocking software was developed to "kill" Peer2Peer sharing. Alderman argues that despite these triumphs, all these efforts only delay the inevitable.

Good book, quick read, and definitely a few years ahead of its time. As legal action against copyright infringement and Peer2Peer sharing heats up ($17,000 settlements among colleges and their students), intelligence of John Alderman's caliber is as necessary today as it has ever been.