The digital music revolution has a human face—many faces actually—and enough stories to fill a novel or a couple of “based on a true story” movies. Economist-author-digital sharer Stephen Witt tracks the key players in his revealing account, How Music Got Free. Turns out the MP3 was developed at a German government-funded institute and leaked over the heads of corporate giants pushing the inferior MP2. Half a world away, a pair of disgruntled workers at a PolyGram plant in the Appalachians stole the matrix files for thousands of CDs. With the aid of cyber-savvy hustlers, the largest piracy operation in history began. Great stories continue: When the FBI descended, some of the most ideological advocates of the open Net were the first to testify against their comrades; big corporations would assume control over new models of doing business in the music industry.
