{"product_id":"how-music-got-free-a-story-of-obsession-and-invention-9780143109341","title":"How Music Got Free: A Story of Obsession and Invention","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eNow a Paramount+ docuseries narrated by Method Man and produced by Marshall \"Eminem\" Mathers, LeBron James, and more\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of \u003ci\u003eBillboard\u003c\/i\u003e's 100 Greatest Music Books of All Time\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat happens when an entire generation commits the same crime? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eHow Music Got Free\u003c\/i\u003e is a riveting story of obsession, music, crime, and money, featuring visionaries and criminals, moguls and tech-savvy teenagers. It's about the greatest pirate in history, the most powerful executive in the music business, a revolutionary invention and an illegal website four times the size of the iTunes Music Store. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJournalist Stephen Witt traces the secret history of digital music piracy, from the German audio engineers who invented the mp3, to a North Carolina compact-disc manufacturing plant where factory worker Dell Glover leaked nearly two thousand albums over the course of a decade, to the high-rises of midtown Manhattan where music executive Doug Morris cornered the global market on rap, and, finally, into the darkest recesses of the Internet. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThrough these interwoven narratives, Witt has written a thrilling book that depicts the moment in history when ordinary life became forever entwined with the world online--when, suddenly, all the music ever recorded was available for free. In the page-turning tradition of writers like Michael Lewis and Lawrence Wright, Witt's deeply reported first book introduces the unforgettable characters--inventors, executives, factory workers, and smugglers--who revolutionized an entire artform, and reveals for the first time the secret underworld of media pirates that transformed our digital lives. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAn irresistible never-before-told story of greed, cunning, genius, and deceit, \u003ci\u003eHow Music Got Free\u003c\/i\u003e isn't just a story of the music industry--it's a must-read history of the Internet itself. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eFinalist for the \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e Book Prize, the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, and the \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e and McKinsey Business Book of the Year\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003eEditors' Choice \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eONE OF THE YEAR'S BEST BOOKS: \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post \u003cb\u003e- \u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe \u003cb\u003eFinancial Times - Slate \u003cb\u003e- The Atlantic \u003cb\u003e- Time \u003cb\u003e- Forbes \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"[\u003ci\u003eHow Music Got Free\u003c\/i\u003e] has the clear writing and brisk reportorial acumen of a Michael Lewis book.\"--Dwight Garner, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eStephen Witt \u003c\/b\u003ewas born in New Hampshire in 1979 and raised in the Midwest. He graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in mathematics in 2001. He spent the next six years playing the stock market, working for hedge funds in Chicago and New York. Following a two-year stint in East Africa working in economic development, he graduated from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism in 2011. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50459946254610,"sku":"9780143109341","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_071009d5-4151-441f-a386-60b5daf27889.jpg?v=1730017191","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/how-music-got-free-a-story-of-obsession-and-invention-9780143109341","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}