“Downloaded,” a documentary film exploring the history of sharing music on the Internet, made its world premiere Sunday at South by Southwest, a festival that marries music, technology and film.
Director Alex Winter focuses on Napster, the file sharing network that allowed 25 million people to share 80 million recordings in what became an early social network. The service allowed users to download music for free from each other’s computers until a lawsuit brought by the recording industry forced it to shut down in 2001.
But by then, a new generation had become accustomed to getting music for free, and the industry and musicians saw revenues plummet.
The founders of Napster, Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker, participate in the film, but Winter allows all sides of the debate over free music to make their cases, often using archival news footage.
“It wasn’t hard for me to balance the two points of view, because I have two points of view,” Winter said. “I don’t think the old school is right to try to criminalize the downloading generation, and I don’t think the downloading generation is right saying that everything should be free.”
The story of Napster echoes today, as the Justice Department pursues the extradition of Kim Dotcom, the founder of MegaUpload, where users share videos. The New Zealander is accused of criminal violation of U.S. copyright laws and money laundering.
Fanning said it was tough to have a film made about something he did when he was a 19-year-old music fan.
“We didn’t think we were doing something that was going to change the world,” Fanning said. “Everyone online was contributing and sharing, and I didn’t realize this fully while I was developing it, but that was the first time everyone on the Internet was publishing content. In the end everyone had a voice, and to see that that voice can have an effect was amazing.”
Winter originally planned to make a feature film for MTV but after failing to win backing, decided to make a documentary for VH1. The network plans to broadcast the film next month.
Ben Edwards and Guy Hobbs Set To Return To FCB London As Exec Creative Directors
Multi-award-winning senior creatives Ben Edwards and Guy Hobbs are rejoining FCB London as executive creative directors. They will assume their appointments in February 2025. The duo will report into chief creative officer Owen Lee, and partner closely with ECD Kyle Harman-Turner. Edwards and Hobbs will work across the entire portfolio of the agency’s client roster including Skoda, Andrex, Intuit Quickbooks, and new client, global confectionery brand Perfetti Van Melle for which FCB London has just been awarded lead agency for creative and strategic responsibilities for a portfolio of its gum brands. The appointment of Edwards and Hobbs follows a remarkable year for FCB London which has secured a raft of new business wins not only for Perfetti Van Melle but also Kellanova’s advantage brands including Pringles--as well as launching a number of celebrated campaigns including “Get Comfortable” for Kimberly-Clark’s Andrex. The creative duo join from Wonderhood Studios where they have been ECDs for nearly three years working with Three, Coral, and premium car brand Ineos Grenadier, among others. Prior to this they had a three-year stint at BBH firstly as sr. creatives, then associate creative directors, working across brands such as Tesco, Samsung, and Barclays. Edwards and Hobbs first teamed up eight years ago while at FCB London. During their time, they produced an array of award-winning work, including the acclaimed “This Girl Can” campaign for Sport England and “Pay it Forward” for The Big Issue, which won a host of awards including a Grand Prix at Eurobest; Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards at Cannes Lions; and a Gold Pencil at The One Show. FCB London CCO Lee said, “Everybody loves a boomerang. We’ve been wanting to tempt Ben... Read More