Recording Industry Timeline -- Or, how to grow your own cartel.

1877 to 1919

The Dark Ages -- Before Rock or Radio

1920 to 1932

The Later Dark Ages -- Radio is Born

1933 to 1953

The First Generation

1954 to 1963

Rock's Early Years

1964 to 1975

Rock's Dominant Years

1976 to 1990

Disco and Big Hair Bands

1991 to 1998

Rap and Death Metal

1998 to Present -- Music's Grand Spiral O' Death

1998

February 7 -- Blex's Page Of Good MP3s, a site not only noted for its FTP site list, but also for the webmaster's outspoken personality, became the subject of Geffen employee Jim Griffin's attack on online piracy. Jim used Blex's listing as a tool to find individual site operators, and would later recall that sites similar to Blex's made his job easier.

December -- RIAA launched its Secure Digital Music Initiative, or SDMI, which calls on tech companies and the recording industry to develop an open specification for online distribution of music by the fall of 1999 and, in the process, eliminate the mp3 file. For the artists, of course.

CD-R prices continue to drop.
More CD's are bought than cassettes.

Diamond introduces the RIO mp3 player and is promptly (and unsuccessfully) sued by the RIAA.

Throughout the year, MP3.com positioned itself as a leader in the online music field, and took upon the immense task of rebutting the negative publicity that surrounded the technology. Investors recognized the unique position and potential of the company, as a result, MP3.com was given 11 million dollars in venture capital funding. Other companies also began pioneering business models involving online music.

Big name acts became more aware of the MP3 technology. Public Enemy attempted to release MP3s on their website, despite the label complicating matters. Pearl Jam's lead singer, Eddie Vedder, said "More power to them," after he was told the Yield album had been distributed on the Internet many days before its official store release.

1999

Viacom buys CBS for $50 million.
CD-Rs are selling for $1-$2 each.
The "Big Five" record companies -- Warner Music, Sony Music, Universal Music, BMG and EMI

Music sites pop up left and right, as the industry tries out the first few varieties of DRM (Digital Rights Management) under the guise of looking for a secure standard. At this point, they really thought they could eradicate the mp3 file format in favor of something more restrictive. In their misplaced zeal to please the record labels, RealNetworks introduces some music spyware.

View all 1999 entries, or jump to a topic:

Napster -- EMusic -- mp3.com -- RealNetworks -- SDMI (Secure Digital Music Initiative) -- Other 1999 Stories

2000

AOL and Time Warner announce merger priced at $111 billion -- the new largest media deal in U.S. history. Later reports say the deal was actually worth $163 billion.

MP3.com fights the RIAA, settles with BMG, EMI, Sony and Warner. Universal sues them (and wins), then settles out of court. EMusic struggles financially.

The SDMI idea of a standard fragmented into way too many incompatible, separate ideas, by now referred to as "copy protection" and "digital rights management." Most of it required Windows. But so did Napster. RealNetworks teamed up with Universal, the Associated Press, and others, and tried very hard to find some sort of copy protection, as did every major label. New "digital protection specialists" began to appear.

RIAA CEO Hilary Rosen comes into the public eye, fights Napster and mp3.com. Metallica and Dr. Dre begin the war with music fans; other artists begin to choose sides. File-sharing programs proliferate.

Napster dominated the music news throughout the year. Even after extensive editing, it is necessary to put it on a separate page. Having the benefit of hindsight, I already know it's time to do the same for several other topics.

Napster -- Beyond Napster -- mp3.com -- RealNetworks -- DRM -- EMusic

Quotes -- AOL/Time-Warner -- RIAA -- Artists Choose Sides -- Listen.com -- Other 2000 Stories

2001

mp3.com spends the entire year getting sued by anyone who didn't get to it last year, then gets bought out by Universal.

Napster suffers pretty much the same legal piling-on, loses their battle with the RIAA and shuts down on July 3.

The RIAA announces figures indicating that they had shipped more CDs in 2000 than ever before. Hilary Rosen points at the singles market (down 39%), which the industry has been trying to kill off for 10 years already, blames Napster.

Microsoft adds the "phone home" feature in its Windows XP release, which they've been looking for an excuse to deploy since Windows 3.

Napster -- mp3.com -- EMusic -- DRM -- RealNetworks

Quotes -- Artist Activity -- Other 2001 Stories

2002

FCC requires the inclusion of digital tuners in nearly all television sets by 2007.

2002 was the year everyone in the music business stopped talking about music and started talking about DRM. The artists start talking about the many ways in which the music business systematically rips off the artists. Congress got involved and started introducing bills that were well-intentioned (or at least well-paid) but they never actually did anything.

Webcasting was emerging and the RIAA pulled an end run around the entire royalty negotiation process.

Napster has been shut down for six months but the court case continues, and the judge is asking a lot of questions that the labels really don't want to answer. Meanwhile, Kazaa appears. Unlike Napster, it is truly decentralized and does not host any music files.

Already three years into trying to destroy the entire music industry, the RIAA begins to destroy its own credibility.

Universal Music begins to destroy mp3.com.

DRM -- Congress -- Napster -- Webcasting -- Quoteable Quotes -- Kazaa -- mp3.com -- Other 2002 Stories

2003 FCC recommends new limits for broadcast ownership. Public sends more than 2 million letters opposing the decision. Federal Court agrees.

2004 ...

2005 ...

2006 ...

2007 November -- Both The Eagles and Led Zeppelin have albums in the top ten.
Warner Music boss Edgar Bronfman proclaims that consumers have won the war that the labels "inadvertently" started.

Sources

History of CD Technology -- OneOff Media Inc.
History of Storage -- PC Museum
Alliance for Community Media
Stay Free Magazine
Recording Technology History -- University of San Diego
Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll, by Jon Pareles and Patricia Romano (1983) Rolling Stone Press
CD-R: Desktop Piracy for 1996? -- Marie D'Amico
Rock Trivia at ClassicBands.com
Hit Men -- by Frederic Dannen (1991, First Vintage Books)

	Recording Industry Timeline -- Or, how to grow your own cartel.
1877 to 1919	The Dark Ages -- Before Rock or Radio
1920 to 1932	The Later Dark Ages -- Radio is Born
1933 to 1953	The First Generation
1954 to 1963	Rock's Early Years
1964 to 1975	Rock's Dominant Years
1976 to 1990	Disco and Big Hair Bands
1991 to 1998	Rap and Death Metal

	1998 to Present -- Music's Grand Spiral O' Death
1998	February 7 -- Blex's Page Of Good MP3s, a site not only noted for its FTP site list, but also for the webmaster's outspoken personality, became the subject of Geffen employee Jim Griffin's attack on online piracy. Jim used Blex's listing as a tool to find individual site operators, and would later recall that sites similar to Blex's made his job easier. December -- RIAA launched its Secure Digital Music Initiative, or SDMI, which calls on tech companies and the recording industry to develop an open specification for online distribution of music by the fall of 1999 and, in the process, eliminate the mp3 file. For the artists, of course. CD-R prices continue to drop. More CD's are bought than cassettes. Diamond introduces the RIO mp3 player and is promptly (and unsuccessfully) sued by the RIAA. Throughout the year, MP3.com positioned itself as a leader in the online music field, and took upon the immense task of rebutting the negative publicity that surrounded the technology. Investors recognized the unique position and potential of the company, as a result, MP3.com was given 11 million dollars in venture capital funding. Other companies also began pioneering business models involving online music. Big name acts became more aware of the MP3 technology. Public Enemy attempted to release MP3s on their website, despite the label complicating matters. Pearl Jam's lead singer, Eddie Vedder, said "More power to them," after he was told the Yield album had been distributed on the Internet many days before its official store release.
1999	Viacom buys CBS for $50 million. CD-Rs are selling for $1-$2 each. The "Big Five" record companies -- Warner Music, Sony Music, Universal Music, BMG and EMI Music sites pop up left and right, as the industry tries out the first few varieties of DRM (Digital Rights Management) under the guise of looking for a secure standard. At this point, they really thought they could eradicate the mp3 file format in favor of something more restrictive. In their misplaced zeal to please the record labels, RealNetworks introduces some music spyware. View all 1999 entries, or jump to a topic: Napster -- EMusic -- mp3.com -- RealNetworks -- SDMI (Secure Digital Music Initiative) -- Other 1999 Stories
2000	AOL and Time Warner announce merger priced at $111 billion -- the new largest media deal in U.S. history. Later reports say the deal was actually worth $163 billion. MP3.com fights the RIAA, settles with BMG, EMI, Sony and Warner. Universal sues them (and wins), then settles out of court. EMusic struggles financially. The SDMI idea of a standard fragmented into way too many incompatible, separate ideas, by now referred to as "copy protection" and "digital rights management." Most of it required Windows. But so did Napster. RealNetworks teamed up with Universal, the Associated Press, and others, and tried very hard to find some sort of copy protection, as did every major label. New "digital protection specialists" began to appear. RIAA CEO Hilary Rosen comes into the public eye, fights Napster and mp3.com. Metallica and Dr. Dre begin the war with music fans; other artists begin to choose sides. File-sharing programs proliferate. Napster dominated the music news throughout the year. Even after extensive editing, it is necessary to put it on a separate page. Having the benefit of hindsight, I already know it's time to do the same for several other topics. Napster -- Beyond Napster -- mp3.com -- RealNetworks -- DRM -- EMusic Quotes -- AOL/Time-Warner -- RIAA -- Artists Choose Sides -- Listen.com -- Other 2000 Stories
2001	mp3.com spends the entire year getting sued by anyone who didn't get to it last year, then gets bought out by Universal. Napster suffers pretty much the same legal piling-on, loses their battle with the RIAA and shuts down on July 3. The RIAA announces figures indicating that they had shipped more CDs in 2000 than ever before. Hilary Rosen points at the singles market (down 39%), which the industry has been trying to kill off for 10 years already, blames Napster. Microsoft adds the "phone home" feature in its Windows XP release, which they've been looking for an excuse to deploy since Windows 3. Napster -- mp3.com -- EMusic -- DRM -- RealNetworks Quotes -- Artist Activity -- Other 2001 Stories
2002	FCC requires the inclusion of digital tuners in nearly all television sets by 2007. 2002 was the year everyone in the music business stopped talking about music and started talking about DRM. The artists start talking about the many ways in which the music business systematically rips off the artists. Congress got involved and started introducing bills that were well-intentioned (or at least well-paid) but they never actually did anything. Webcasting was emerging and the RIAA pulled an end run around the entire royalty negotiation process. Napster has been shut down for six months but the court case continues, and the judge is asking a lot of questions that the labels really don't want to answer. Meanwhile, Kazaa appears. Unlike Napster, it is truly decentralized and does not host any music files. Already three years into trying to destroy the entire music industry, the RIAA begins to destroy its own credibility. Universal Music begins to destroy mp3.com. DRM -- Congress -- Napster -- Webcasting -- Quoteable Quotes -- Kazaa -- mp3.com -- Other 2002 Stories
2003	FCC recommends new limits for broadcast ownership. Public sends more than 2 million letters opposing the decision. Federal Court agrees.
2004	...
2005	...
2006	...
2007	November -- Both The Eagles and Led Zeppelin have albums in the top ten. Warner Music boss Edgar Bronfman proclaims that consumers have won the war that the labels "inadvertently" started.