Eminem and LeBron James join forces to tell the intriguing tale of how music piracy took over the world in a new documentary titled How Music Got Free.
Eminem Has a Documentary on Music Piracy Coming
The two-part documentary series details the inside story of the “crime we all committed” to access free music during the late-1990s and early-2000s. On Tuesday (May 21), a trailer for How Music Got Free debuted, in which Eminem, 50 Cent, Timbaland, Rhymefest and music executive Steve Stoute, among others, give insight on living through this major piracy era.
“When Napster first came about, I didn’t understand the internet yet,” Eminem says at the start of the trailer. “I thought Yahoo was a person.”
File-sharing technology like Napster was at the center of giving fans access to free music in all genres, like rap and pop, to the detriment of the artists creating the work. Songs would be uploaded by users on the platform so that other interested parties could download the tracks free of charge.
The peer-to-peer file-sharing aspect had its ups and downs, like gaining access to high-quality versions of albums or hearing nothing but static on downloads. The risk for free music was worth the reward. However, copyright infringement caused the company to encounter serious legal issues and lose many lawsuits as a result. In 2001, Napster ceased operations in 2001, and filed for bankruptcy.
How Music Got Free debuts June 11 on Paramount+.
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Take a look at the trailer for Eminem and LeBron James’ documentary, How Music Got Free, below.
Watch the Trailer for How Music Got Free
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