Existing comment:
Apple's iTunes
MP3 and other digital players used sound files, not records or tapes. In 2001, Apple introduced iTunes, an online platform that sold digital songs for just 99 cents apiece -- which licensed and paid royalty fees for the music it sold -- made purchasing so easy that it helped reduce illegal file sharing. Apple, pushed by cofounder Steve Jobs, then developed a user-friendly digital player, the iPod.
Listening Anytime
Ever-smaller players with ever-larger capacities for tunes and, later, podcasts, made it possible to listen anytime -- even all day. As many workplaces transformed into cubicle farms or as workers moved to communal spaces, players with earbuds provided a sense of privacy. And user-created playlists became valued expressions of individual identity. |