All the Rave: The Rise and Fall of Shawn Fanning's Napster

Sean Fanning's Napster is widely regarded as the poster child for the dot-com-bubble's bust. In some ways that description is very apt. Characterizing the company as a VC-baby that never developed a business model and whose fame was based on giving away other's property would hardly be inaccurate. But All The Rave author Joeseph Menn goes far beyond the hype and failure to provide a detailed analysis and chronology of the company from pre-inception to post-collapse.Menn, whose resume includes the LA Times and Bloomberg, takes an unbiased look at Napster and the decisions that they made. He documents the internal fighting that he proffers as the cause of the company's failure. He provides details about every Napster transaction, from the original 30/70 split between Sean Fanning and his uncle (respectively), the company's angel funding, investment by Hummer Winblad, the Bertelsmann loan, and the company's eventual bankruptcy. The book, though, reads more like a novel than a business book. The book also incorporates afterthoughts from the company's principals about what they would have done differently in retrospect. With the exception of John Fanning (who ostensibly refused interview requests), Mann incorporates lessons learned from all of the principals both interspersed within the heart of the book and in a post-mortem chapter that serves as an epilogue.For a company that once flew so high to have died so quickly is somewhat amazing (though not as much so today as perhaps it was five years ago). This book chronologies that trip. It is an exciting ride!

Didn't know much about the details of this sad saga till Menn brought the unknown background and drama to the public side of this quashed revolution. Shawn may have lost this round but the rebels are all over, regrouped, stronger and bigger than the jurassic of the recording industry.Bravo Menn and may Shawn rise again.

Let me start by saying that I'm very curious about the anonymous Bay Area reviews that say the book is wildly inaccurate. I'm writing a dissertation chapter on Napster (not the company, more the system), and although I didn't comparing every date and name, it seemed accurate. There are also two completely contradictory reviews by people who supposedly worked at Napster, but who knows if they did.I feel this book is better than two other Napster books, "Sonic Boom" and "Irresistible Forces". Menn seems to have done a really good investigative job - he is a reporter after all - and includes people, perspectives, and histories that the other books don't mention at all. For instance, it turns out I've met someone who is mentioned in Menn's book but isn't in the other books. Menn interviews people who didn't invest in Napster, not just those who did. In other Napster stories, John Fanning is a father figure, and it ends there. Menn actually researches John Fanning's history, and it is ugly, complete with lawsuits and a police record. Other sources annoying tease us with hints of who Shawn Fanning's father is, and say he is a famous Boston-area musician. Menn tells us who he is - I'm from Boston, and I have never heard of the guy (Joe Rando).Having read books, business press, law reviews, computer press, mainstream press, and other sources about Napster, I do think Menn does a very good job. Since I was not involved in Napster, I cannot say which versions, which stories, are true. Menn's work, however, gives a much richer picture of the company and the dealings within and around it than other sources I have read.

As someone who actually worked at Napster during the time period of this book, let me tell you that the book is well written and dead on the mark. It uncovers exactly what no one knows -- John Fanning's pathological screwing of anyone (including his own family) to get what he wants, the common but rarely acknowledged minefield of business politics and relationships that coalesce around mega-hit startups (and the insanity that follows it), and of course one wild and crazy ride.If you're a pedantic, ostentatious second-generation Napster ex-employee with obvious resentments about missing the boat, then this book is not for you. If you're everyone else, though, then buy buy buy!, because this book is a hell of an interesting read, and exposes a fairly common world that 99% of the non-Silicon Valley population doesn't even know exists.

...This book tells the story that the press doesn't tell; the chaotic side of Napster and the internal feuds.Starting with the first paragraph, the book reveals that this isn't the normal story of Napster, but rather a deep story that reveals the people, not the image, behind the revolutionary service. This book is definitely worth reading, if not for the real story behind one of the craziest businesses ever, then for the what-not-to-do business aspects behind it.I definitely recommend this book to all readers. Have fun and enjoy the book!