How Music Became Free is a gripping story that interweaves obsession, greed, music, crime and money. This story is told through visionaries and criminals, tycoons and teenagers, creating a new digital reality. This is the story of the greatest pirate in history, the most powerful executive in the music business, a revolutionary invention, and an illegal site that was four times the size of the iTunes Music Store. Journalist Stephen Witt traces the secret history of digital music piracy, starting with its invention by German audio engineers. mp3 format, takes the reader through a North Carolina plant where CDs were pressed and from which one employee leaked some 2,000 albums over a decade, to the Manhattan high-rises from where the powerful Doug Morris ruled the music business, monopolizing the global rap market. music, and from there into the depths of the Internet - the darknet.