Digital disruption begins

2000

Napster turns every dorm into a record store, teen pop keeps ruling, and Eminem proves controversy still sells while the industry panics quietly.

Napster Changes Everything

A peer-to-peer program turns every dorm room into a record store — the industry panics while listeners discover a world without waiting. Teen pop keeps ruling the charts with Britney and NSYNC, and Eminem's 'The Marshall Mathers LP' proves controversy still sells at scale. The year ends with Y2K relief and the quiet beginning of music's biggest disruption. The year ends with Y2K relief and the quiet beginning of music's biggest disruption since the vinyl wars.

• Napster
• Eminem
• teen pop
• digital piracy
• Y2K

• Napster peaks with millions of users sharing MP3s
• Eminem's 'The Marshall Mathers LP' breaks sales records
• Britney Spears' 'Oops!... I Did It Again' dominates pop
• U2's 'All That You Can't Leave Behind' returns rock to relevance