This month marks the 10th anniversary of the official launch of Napster, the revolutionary file-sharing network application that led to millions of people downloading music files online and prompted many music industry observers to sound the death knell for record labels long before sales figures had shown any marked decline. In a June 15 report prepared for the Pew Internet & American Life Project and posted on its website (www.pewinternet.org), Mary Madden examines “The State of Music Online: Ten Years After Napster.”

Although the report doesn’t break any new ground, it serves as a concise and well-researched primer on the effects of online technology on the music industry over the past decade and how the industry’s reactions to it have helped shape its current state and future prospects at a time when musicians can now promote and sell their recordings directly to fans over the Internet.

Citing findings by file-sharing research firm Big Champagne, the report notes that as of last June, more than 200 million computers had at least one peer-to-peer application installed, with only 13 percent of music consumers acknowledging that they pay for downloads, and iTunes continuing to dominate that market.

Although the unauthorized downloading of music files constitutes copyright infringement and prompted the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to engage in a multi-year legal battle against individual file sharers, the report notes that such litigation proved largely ineffective. More than that, it contributed to a negative perception of the recording industry as one that sues its customers and is out-of-step with current digital technology. The report also reveals the apparent disconnect between artists and the industry, noting that although most artists surveyed by Pew Internet for its “Artists, Musicians and the Internet” report in 2004 thought unauthorized file-sharing was wrong, few believed that the industry was in peril because of it. Indeed, according to that report, more artists were inclined to view the Internet as a valuable tool to help enhance and further their careers than to focus on how new technologies made it more difficult to protect their creative work from piracy or unlawful use.

“The State of Music Online” report concludes: “As more and more internet users acquire smart phones and high-speed wireless connectivity improves, music consumers get ever closer to the “celestial jukebox” dream of any song at any time that started during the days of Napster. For now, quality and reliability are still an issue, but the march of technology will quickly stomp out that minor hurdle. Ultimately, whether you’re storing a library of music files on your home computer or streaming songs through your iPhone, it all becomes the same: instant access to the music you want.”

The Pew Internet & American Life Project is one of seven projects that make up the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan, nonprofit “fact tank” that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. The Project produces reports exploring the impact of the internet on families, communities, work and home, daily life, education, health care, and civic and political life.