All the Rave

The Rise and Fall of Shawn Fanning’s Napster

By: Joseph Menn

Narrated by: John Rubinstein

Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's Summary

The definitive inside account of the file-sharing revolution that overthrew the music industry, All the Rave reveals the family betrayal, greed, and mismanagement that hijacked one the most fundamental innovations of the Internet era.

Named one of the three best books of 2003 by Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc., All the Rave has been out of print until now and unavailable in most formats.

Author and veteran technology journalist Joseph Menn also wrote 2010's Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords who are Bringing Down the Internet.

As an added bonus, this audiobook includes a special interview with the author, conducted by Susie Bright.

©2003 Joseph Menn (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"The book, by Joseph Menn, provides a well-documented history of one of the most celebrated collapses of the Internet. But it goes far deeper, giving an inside account of the creation of Napster, the battle for its control and the maneuvering by big Silicon Valley names to try to turn music piracy into gold." ( The New York Times)

"That rare business book that nicely avoids either hatchet job or hagiography." ( San Francisco Chronicle)

"An admirable piece of reporting, of interest to both friends and foes of the movement Napster helped to create." ( The Washington Post)

The Far-reaching Karma of Napster

Shawn Fanning and Napster overthrew the music industry—and if you don't think you're still reeling from that revolution, sit down and prepare to have your mind blown.

Fanning never went away. His legend in IT and the transformation of intellectual property on the Internet is something we take for granted now— but its origins are something out of a down and dirty mystery novel.

This is Joseph Menn's meticulous investigation of how Shawn unearthed the firmament— the eye-opening reveals are incredible. The tale of Fanning's shady uncle pushes the story into a true-crime investigation.

Take a listen!

Digital Ponzi Scheme

After reading about Napster and Shawn Fanning, the company seem like a digital Ponzi scheme. I'm a child from the Napster era and "All the Rave" was a decent read, but the actual company and leadership was a big joke. Terrible management.

I don't feel bad for Shawn Fanning. He might had been a good coder, but no leadership and you never do business with family. John Fanning, his uncle, was the reason for Napster failures. Maybe if Shawn's uncle wasn't apart of the company, Napster would still be here.

They pretty much destroy themselves. The company just sounded shady from the start.

Even after the death of Napster, any savvy user could easily find these files elsewhere.

Thank you Napster for bringing the technology of "sharing" to the Internet.

Mehster

I looked up, it was zero zero out of time. Pirate it like its 1999

Could have been such an interesting story

What disappointed you about All the Rave?

I found the story was not put together in a way that was engaging or very interesting. The potential for a great telling of the story of Napster. This was boring.

What was most disappointing about Joseph Menn’s story?

The narrator's delivery and weak writing.

Would you be willing to try another one of John Rubinstein’s performances?

I would have to hear a sample first to make sure this book's failure was just the bad writing and storytelling.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment. Was excited to learn more than was in the newspaper about the rise and fall of Napster.

Great (and surprising) story of Napster

a great story of fans of any of of the following - peer-to-peer, the changes to the music industry, napster, entrepeneurs, silicon valley, leadership of innovation, the law and it's relationship to technology and innovatoon and more. really enjoyed it. Good production from Audible too.