Digital music timeline 2000-2009 – the decade at a glance
A decade after Napster arrived, no-one disagrees that digital is the future (and indeed the present) of the music business. As this timeline shows, the past ten years have seen massive changes in the music industry, most of which have been triggered by the rapid development of online and mobile music technology. 
The key events of each year are highlighted below, but each year also has its own full timeline with many more developments included and described as we reported them at the time.
You can also sign up for a free trial enabling you to get access to our ten years of past reports studying the frontier of digital music. Check out our fascinating look back at the digital decade, after the jump…
Read the full digital music timeline for 2000
April Metallica files suit against Napster
May Napster releases a new version of its software capable of distributing secure Windows Media files
June The RIAA asks for a preliminary injunction against Napster
July Sirius launches the first US music satellite into space
August Universal launches Bluematter, selling digital tracks for $1.99; they can’t be played on any portable player, burned to CD or transferred to other computers
September P2P application KaZaA launches
December US Copyright Office rules that labels are entitled to royalties when terrestrial radio stations simulcast their output over the internet
Read the full digital music timeline for 2001
March The dot com crash hits, withMusicunsigned, Besonic, Music3W, Audiosoft, Net4Music and Brainspark laying off staff or closing offices
April Professor Edward Felten and his students successfully hack the SDMI copy-protection standard
May Vivendi Universal acquires MP3.com for $372m in cash and stock
July AIM and Impala sign a deal with Napster worth around £8m, allowing indie labels to sign up for a legal Napster
October RIAA and MPAA take legal action against the FastTrack network, owner of KaZaA and Morpheus
Apple launches the iPod
November BMG forced to set up a helpline after Natalie Imbruglia fan complain that copy-protection is stopping them playing her latest album
Read the full digital music timeline for 2002
January KaZaA stops distribution of its application as it fights lawsuits in the US and the Netherlands
March Dataplay, a new physical music format, aims to release 350 titles by the end of the year
April KaZaA is now owned by Sharman Networks, registered in the South Pacific island of Vanuatu
May Napster enters bankruptcy proceedings
October OD2 launches Digital Download Day
Dataplay files for bankruptcy
November Roxio buys Napster’s assets
Read the full digital music timeline for 2003
March Warner sells Madonna’s ‘American Life’ as an unprotected MP3
April EMI announces that 140,000 tracks from 3,000 artists will be sold online
RealNetworks buys Listen.com, makers of the Rhapsody subscription service
May Sony and Universal sell Pressplay to Roxio
July RIAA takes legal action against individual file-sharers
August Last.fm launches
The BPI’s Peter Jamieson predicts that within five years, downloads could account for 60% of the UK chart
October eMusic sold to Dimensional Associates
iTunes Music Store launches for Windows
November Sony and BMG merge
MP3.com sold to CNet
December Apple announces sales of 25m downloads sold so far
Read the full digital music timeline for 2004
January Shawn Fanning launches Snocap as a P2P licensing and content registration company
March T-Mobile in the UK offers the first European ringback tone service
Starbucks partners with HP to offer in-store CD burning
May Sony Connect digital music store launches
Napster 2.0 launches in UK
June Over 500,000 legal digital tracks sold between January and June 2004 according to the BPI
Apple launches throughout Europe
July Loudeye buys OD2
Universal announces a new “pocket CD” format featuring ringtones as well as music tracks
BMG in Germany announces a three-tier CD pricing system – with low-end packaging, standard packaging and deluxe packaging
September eMusic re-launches
REM offer a pre-release album stream on MySpace
October British labels commence legal action against individual file- sharers
November Tesco launches Tescodownloads.com
December Legal action against KaZaA begins in Australia
Read the full digital music timeline for 2005
January Apple launches the iPod Shuffle
Official Charts Company announces that all legal downloads combined outsell physical singles
February Napster To Go, featuring the Windows Janus portability technology, launches in the UK
March Universal sends out cease and desist notices to mainstream music video sites who refuse to pay licensing fees
April Combined physical and download chart launches in UK
May Yahoo! launches Music Unlimited subscription service, undercutting Napster and Rhapsody by selling packages, as low as $4.99 per month
July Music Ally’s consumer research division The Leading Question reveals that file-sharers spend four-and-a-half times more on legal digital music than other music fans
September Both Virgin and HMV launch their own new online music subscription services
December MTV announces launch of subscription service Urge
YouTube launches
Read the full digital music timeline for 2006
January Google launches its own video site
February UK cross-parliament group investigates DRM
May Mobile operator 3 announces that 1m full-tracks or videos were downloaded in April alone
July Microsoft launches Zune digital media device
Sony Ericsson reveals that it has sold 10m Walkman phones in the past year
August Nokia buys Loudeye
Major labels launch suit against file-sharing network LimeWire
September SpiralFrog announces an ad- supported download service with licences from Universal
October YouTube sells to Google for $1.65bn in stock
Read the full digital music timeline for 2007
January Apple announces the iPhone
Virgin Digital closes
Norway launches a case designed to force Apple to make its service interactive
April EMI becomes first major to release significant quantities of catalogue without DRM
Apple announces 100m iPod sales
May CBS buys Last.fm
June Sony announces plan to close Connect within two months
July Apple sells 525,000 iPhones in its opening weekend
Microsoft announces sales of 1m Zune devices so far
August Private equity group Terra Firma buys EMI
SpiralFrog launches in beta
Universal announces that it will sell thousands of DRM-free tracks through retailers other than iTunes
MTV shuts Urge and teams up with Rhapsody
September Apple announces iPod Touch
October Amazon launches its MP3 store
HMV Unlimited closes
RIAA prevails against Jammie Thomas in first file-sharing jury trial
Radiohead launch pay-what- you-like album scheme for In Rainbows
November Facebook valued at $15bn after Microsoft takes 1.6% stake for $240m
December Nokia announces Comes With Music service
Read the full digital music timeline for 2008
January Sony and Warner drop DRM
Apple found guilty of price rigging by European Commission
Pandora closes its UK operation
HMV announces new £5.99 monthly streaming-only service
Last.fm announces free on- demand licensed streaming
March NPD Group states that iTunes is now the second largest music retailer in the US
AOL buys Bebo for $850m
MySpace Music announced with licenses from Warner, Universal and Sony BMG
April Europe votes against ‘three- strikes’ anti-piracy legislation
May Napster goes DRM-free on à la carte downloads
June France hopes to take ‘three- strikes’ legislation to Europe
July Apple launches App Store
Sky announces a forthcoming music service with streaming and a fixed number of permanent ownership MP3s each month
August Sony buys BMG out of their partnership for $1.2bn
October US webcasters hail settlement on rates
November EMI restructures into three new business units: new music, catalogue and music services
December Distribution firms EUK and Pinnacle collapse
Warner makes available DRM- free tracks through iTunes
2009
Read our guide to the key digital music trends of 2009 and the most important music iPhone apps of 2009
Tags: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, Digital music history, digital music timeline
December 31st, 2009 at 10:54 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Philippe DUPUIS, Angelique Crusius. Angelique Crusius said: RT @MusicAlly: Digital music timeline 2000-2009 – the decade at a glance: The digital decade A decade after Napster http://bit.ly/8EVxgR [...]
December 31st, 2009 at 9:23 pm
[...] Music Ally | Blog Archive » Digital music timeline 2000-2009 – the … [...]
January 1st, 2010 at 3:46 am
[...] Music Ally | Blog Archive » Digital music timeline 2000-2009 – the … [...]
January 2nd, 2010 at 8:43 am
[...] Music Ally | Blog Archive » Digital music timeline 2000-2009 – the … [...]
January 3rd, 2010 at 12:24 am
May (2001) Vivendi Universal acquires MP3.com for $372m in cash and stock
There are plenty of times when I’m a complete and total idiot. Then I read something like that… and realize there are large companies full of complete and total idiots. Then I wonder when I’m going to get my chance to hook up with these guys. I know I could help them blow through 372 million dollars faster than they ever dreamed possible.
January 4th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
[...] Some help in making this list came from a very detailed time line created at the musically.com blog. Click here to see a more in-depth time line. [...]