Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music

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Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music
Ripped GregKot bookcover.jpg
Author Greg Kot
Country United States
Language English
Publisher Scribner
Publication date
May 19, 2009
Media type Print (Hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4165-4727-3
OCLC 232979150
780.285/46 22
LC Class ML74.7 .K68 2009
Preceded by Wilco: Learning How to Die

Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music (2009, ISBN   978-1-4165-4727-3) is a book investigating the business aspects of the music industry by Chicago Tribune rock critic Greg Kot who is the cohost of the Chicago Public Radio show, Sound Opinions . It covers the revolution of music access and consumption resulted by the digital age and the effects it has on the music industry. The book also details the ways that artists have altered their business model in response to these changes to take advantage of digital distribution and peer-to-peer file sharing. Kot uses his firsthand access to illustrate how major recording artists have responded to the declining relevance of the big record companies. The Metallica and Napster case back in 2000 is brought up defining Metallica's clear stance on file-sharing. On the other hand, already highly successful musicians such as Trent Reznor and Prince believed in giving away their albums. The book mentions Radiohead's prior hesitation of becoming an independent band due to having to deal with all the business aspects of the industry such as setting up their own business meetings. However, the band was not satisfied with the fact that their major label could not keep up with how fans were downloading their music off the Internet. Eventually Radiohead put up their album In Rainbows (2007) on their website through a pay what you want model where fans can decide how much the album is worth. [1] Kot explains that a reason why young people started the file-sharing trend was because of the inability to connect with pop music that the record companies advertised then. Teenagers went to the Internet to find music that they can better relate to. [2] This played a role in building the audience of indie bands like Death Cab for Cutie, Bright Eyes, Clap Your Hands, Girl Talk, and Arcade Fire with little or no major label input. The music industry is filing lawsuits when it has a history of illegal actions such as Payola and taking advantage of artists; therefore, it is a contender for phony "moral posturing", according to Kot. [3] Not making a deal with Napster instead to create a legal music downloading service in 2001 just further damaged the industry because other free music sharing websites were created. [3] Kot thinks that keeping up with the way music is consumed in the digital age has not only benefited fans, but also musicians: “In this world, the fringe players could more easily find and build a dedicated audience, and a musical ecosystem encompassing thousands of microcultures began to emerge.” [4]

International Standard Book Number Unique numeric book identifier

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier which is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.

Book medium for a collection of words and/or pictures to represent knowledge or a fictional story, often manifested in bound paper and ink, or in e-books

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It was published on May 19, 2009 by the Scribner imprint of Simon & Schuster.

Simon & Schuster large English-language publisher

Simon & Schuster, Inc., a subsidiary of CBS Corporation, is an American publishing company founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard Simon and Max Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was publishing 2,000 titles annually under 35 different imprints.

The book has received mostly favorable reviews. The Boston Globe claims it is “well-researched and highly opinionated,” and that it “captures the exciting immediacy of Internet-spawned music," however pointing out Kot’s siding with illegal downloading does not capture the negative effects it has on other artists. [3] The Christian Science Monitor praises Kot’s journalism saying that it’s “even-tempered and provocative, factual, and soulful,” even if the book does not conclude with a solution to the harm caused by file-sharing. [2] The New York Times critic, Michiko Kakutani, bemoans the narrow viewpoint of Kot, who champions the position of young music fans who are reluctant to pay for all the music they listen to. [4]

<i>The Boston Globe</i> newspaper

The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts, since its creation by Charles H. Taylor in 1872. The newspaper has won a total of 26 Pulitzer Prizes as of 2016, and with a total paid circulation of 245,824 from September 2015 to August 2016, it is the 25th most read newspaper in the United States. The Boston Globe is the oldest and largest daily newspaper in Boston.

<i>The Christian Science Monitor</i> Nonprofit news organization owned by the Church of Christ, Scientist

The Christian Science Monitor (CSM) is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist. As of 2011, the print circulation was 75,052.

<i>The New York Times</i> Daily broadsheet newspaper based in New York City

The New York Times is an American newspaper based in New York City with worldwide influence and readership. Founded in 1851, the paper has won 125 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper. The Times is ranked 17th in the world by circulation and 2nd in the U.S.

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