Love in the era of Piracy: the lengths we'd go to get that new album during Y2K and where are they now?

It seems timely that I am writing this article on the day that news emerged that several unreleased tracks by Beyoncé were stolen from a car during her Cowboy Carter tour.

While torrenting would be the option these days if anyone were to release them, back when the Y2K bug was considered a global issue, there were several different options instead. Many of those options were still illegal, but in some cases with the added caveat that a virus might hop along for the ride with the MP3 or zip file you'd added to your download queue.

Long before Spotify became a household name, and around the time Apple launched their revolutionary first iPod and their own music download service, many of us took to the World Wide Web armed with one of five programmes to access music that today is as easy as just swiping on a screen. The same could also be said about dating, but that’s another story for another series of apps.

It would be another wave of capitalist panic when Peer-to-Peer file sharing started coming into vogue around the turn of the millennium. While many felt that music should be free and that the likes of Napster were actually helping those get heard without the need for expensive radio campaigns, others equated it to a woodworker having a chair stolen from them. Who else remembers the classic 'you wouldn’t steal a car' adverts played before every cinema outing back in the day?

But for a generation of music listeners, where TikTok seems to be the conundrum facing musicians and copyright law, they might have missed all of this; the trials and tribulations of risking your computer security just to listen to that new Metallica or Spice Girls track.

So, what did some of us of a certain age (and, apparently, low moral fibre) use to gain access to the latest musical releases, and where did those programmes go when streaming services became the norm?

Fives ways we used to download music before Spotify existed

Napster

We start with where most of us all began - launched in 1999 by Shawn Fanning, Napster was the original revolutionary. It was a centralized P2P file-sharing service primarily focused on MP3 music files. Its genius was in its simplicity: users could search a central server for songs, and the software would then connect them directly to other users' computers to download the files. At its peak in early 2001, Napster had nearly 80 million registered users.

Napster became the poster child for copyright infringement. Its most famous legal battle was with Metallica, who, along with Dr. Dre, sued the company in April 2000 after discovering their unreleased song ‘I Disappear’ circulating on the platform - cue crude animations of Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield bellowing out “Napster, bad!”

However, the lawsuit that truly brought Napster down was the massive $20 billion infringement case filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), representing major record labels like A&M Records. The courts consistently ruled against Napster, rejecting its claims of "fair use" and holding it liable for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement.

Faced with crippling injunctions and legal pressure, Napster was ordered to block copyrighted material and ultimately shut down its original free service in July 2001. The company filed for bankruptcy. In 2002, its brand and logo were acquired by Roxio, which rebranded its own streaming service as Napster 2.0, attempting to go legit with a paid subscription model.

Over the years, Napster's name changed hands multiple times (including Best Buy and Rhapsody). Today, the Napster brand still exists as a legitimate, paid music streaming service, albeit a much smaller player in a market dominated by Spotify and Apple Music.

LimeWire

One of two sure fire ways to infect your computer with a virus just for a chance at listening to a track before its release…

Launched in 2000 by Mark Gorton, LimeWire quickly became one of the most popular decentralized P2P file-sharing clients after Napster's demise. Unlike Napster, LimeWire operated on the Gnutella network, meaning there was no central server controlling searches or file transfers. This decentralized nature made it harder to shut down. It was known for its user-friendly interface and became a go-to for music, movies, software, and more.

LimeWire faced years of legal battles with the RIAA. In 2010, after a lengthy lawsuit initiated by Arista Records and other labels, a U.S. federal court judge issued an injunction ordering Lime Wire LLC to disable all file-sharing functionality of its software. The RIAA initially sought astronomical damages (reportedly up to $72 trillion) but eventually settled for $105 million.

Following the injunction, Lime Wire LLC stopped distributing its software, and later versions were disabled. While older versions (pre-5.5.11) remained functional for a time, the company itself ceased its operations related to file-sharing.

In a surprising twist, the LimeWire brand was acquired by new management in 2021 (with no affiliation to the original company) and has been repurposed as an NFT marketplace and Web3 platform focusing on music and content.

AudioGalaxy

Created in 1998, AudioGalaxy was initially an MP3 indexing site that evolved into a robust P2P system with client software (the AudioGalaxy Satellite) and a web-based search engine. It gained popularity, especially after Napster's legal woes, known for its strong community features like chat-enabled groups and directly linking to other artists you might also like - almost a proto Spotify daily playlist before it existed.

AudioGalaxy also faced a lawsuit from the RIAA in May 2002 due to the widespread sharing of copyrighted material. Despite its attempts to implement filtering mechanisms (which users often circumvented), the pressure was immense.

In June 2002, AudioGalaxy reached an out-of-court settlement with the RIAA. As part of the agreement, it was required to implement a "filter-in" system, meaning only music with explicit consent from rights holders could be shared. This effectively ended its P2P file-sharing operations. It then licensed and rebranded itself as a promotional website for the Rhapsody music subscription service for many years.

Kazaa

The second sure-fire way to end up infecting your computer with viruses - launched in 2001 by Dutch company Consumer Empowerment (later sold to Sharman Networks), Kazaa became one of the dominant P2P networks after the fall of Napster.

It used the FastTrack protocol (which was also the basis for Skype) and allowed users to share not just music, but also videos, software, and documents. It was notorious for bundling adware and spyware, leading to many users opting for Kazaa Lite.

Kazaa faced intense legal pressure globally. In 2001, a Dutch court ordered its owners to prevent copyright violations. In the US, the RIAA and MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) filed suit, leading to the landmark MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd. Supreme Court case (though Grokster was the named defendant, Kazaa's FastTrack protocol was central to the broader issue).

In Australia, the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) also sued, culminating in a 2005 ruling that Sharman Networks had "authorized" illegal file sharing by its users. The RIAA also pursued thousands of individual users for infringement, including the high-profile case against Jammie Thomas-Rasset.

Kazaa's legal issues ended with a $100 million settlement paid to the four major music companies. Sharman Networks agreed to convert Kazaa into a legal music download service, but this venture ultimately failed. The original Kazaa file-sharing application effectively shut down around 2006.

Like Napster, the brand was later licensed and briefly relaunched as a legitimate music subscription service, but it too failed to gain significant traction and is now defunct as a music service.

Soulseek

The music connoisseur's method of downloading; created by Nir Arbel around 2000, Soulseek was distinct from the outset.

While it was a P2P file-sharing network, it was less about mainstream hits and more about fostering a community of music enthusiasts, particularly for underground, independent, and niche electronic music, rare tracks, and live sets. It emphasized sharing and community, with users often having specific rules for who could download from them.

Unlike the other major players, Soulseek has largely avoided direct, high-profile lawsuits that led to its shutdown. Its more decentralized structure, combined with its focus on less commercial, underground music, made it a less attractive target for major record labels compared to the mass-market platforms. There have been instances of servers being targeted or legal pressure, but no singular, defining case that brought the entire network down.

Soulseek still exists and is actively used today, maintaining its niche status. It has evolved, with an emphasis on its community and the sharing of diverse and often obscure music. While it's certainly not mainstream, it remains a beloved tool for audiophiles and those seeking music beyond the commercial charts.

Did you ever use any of the software or websites mentioned in this article? Share the ways you used to access music in the new millennium by leaving your memories below.