It was in 2006 when one of the applications that revolutionized the world of music arrived. It is the original Swedish application, Spotify, a multiplatform used for the reproduction of music via streaming.
Since its launch, the famous app has a premium business model and a basic free service with advertising.
At the premium level there are additional features, with better audio quality, through a paid subscription.
But before the appearance of this platform, or many others such as Apple Music or Amazon Music, there were platforms that were used to download free music from the web.
The pioneer on the subject: Napster.
It is a platform created by Sean Parker (current Spotify shareholder), an American businessman who has worked mainly in the software and computing industry, being a co-founder of companies such as Plaxo and Causes.
“Napster” had its launch in 1999, but became popular among Internet users a year later, which functioned as a network to share collections of songs and listen to what others uploaded to the platform.
“Ares”
But in 2002 the monster of music downloads arrived: Ares.
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The platform was created in 2002; It was free software with a broadcasting type search system, which became popular particularly in Latin America due to a rather significant detail: the downloads were free.
From “Ares” other innovative functions were derived for the time, such as previewing the files before downloading them, creating queues for songs, and later instant messaging between two users.
It also had compatibility with “SHOUTcast” internet radio from the same interface.
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After “Ares” other competitors like “Limewire” were born, but the happiness was tarnished when Lars Ulrich, Metallica drummer, sued Napster for copyright.
Therefore, the platforms were acquired by Spotify and today they coexist as a very similar streaming service.
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