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Interactions Access Reading, 4/e

Pamela Hartmann, Los Angeles Unified School District
James Mentel, Los Angeles Unified School District

Shopping and e-Commerce

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Listening Online

Twenty years ago, most people listened to music on records or tapes. The sound quality was not very good. Then, in the early 1980s, the compact disc (CD) appeared on the market. The sound quality was better, and CDs were easier to take care of. Nobody thought records were going to disappear, but now records are not manufactured (made), and very few people buy them. The next question is: Will the CD ever disappear? How will we be listening to music twenty years from now? Some people think the CD will disappear as well. Already, people are listening to MP3 files (digital music files) and downloading music from the Internet. Downloading is when you move files from the Internet to your own computer.

Napster was the first company to use the Internet to help people share music. A college student named Shawn Fanning started the company in 1998. Shawn discovered a way to allow people to download songs from each other's computers. Over 70 million people used Napster. The record companies were very angry. They thought that people were using Napster to steal music. The record companies took Napster to court. In 2000, a judge ordered Napster to close. Will that be the end of free online music sharing? Probably not.

Napster is starting a new Web site together with a record company. On this new site, people will pay money to share music. But most of the 70 million people who used Napster want their music for free. They are finding many other file-sharing sites that help them share MP3 files, such as Audiogalaxy, BearShare, and Aimster. These Web sites are not actual companies, so the record companies cannot take them to court.

Are people going to stop buying CDs and get all their music online? Or are the record companies going to stop music sharing forever? No one knows for sure. CDs are convenient and easy to use. Many people still don't have computers, and downloading music can be very slow. One user sums it up: "I download music all the time—about 100 to 150 songs a day. I have over 4,000 songs on my computer. But I'll never stop buying CDs because it's important for people to support the musicians they like." For now, the CD is alive and well, but for how long?

Finding the Main Ideas

Complete each sentence with the best answer.


1	The title of the article is "Listening Online." A good subtitle is __.
		A)	What is the future of music?
		B)	Will records ever return?
		C)	The CD is here forever


2	The main idea of Paragraph A is __.
		A)	Most people download music from the Internet
		B)	CDs are the most popular way to listen to music
		C)	The way we listen to music is always changing


3	The main idea of Paragraph B is __.
		A)	Napster was the first company to do file sharing online
		B)	The record companies took Napster to court
		C)	Shawn Fanning started a company called Napster


4	The main idea of Paragraph C is __.
		A)	70 million people used Napster
		B)	There are still many ways to get free music online
		C)	Napster's new site will be very popular


5	The main idea of Paragraph D is __.
		A)	File sharing will become more popular than CDs
		B)	CDs and file sharing may or may not be around for a long time
		C)	The record companies will probably stop file sharing

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