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I have about 550 CDs at home, proudly on display in the family room on IKEA shelves, alphabetized from ABBA to Yes (I never was much of a ZZ Top fan). I remember when I bought the first one, in 1988, even before I had a CD player, excited about the future but a little disturbed that all my vinyl albums were becoming obsolete. Today, I face a future that may soon render all those CDs obsolete as well.

Music delivery over the Internet is radically changing the way we listen and the way we buy.  The same technology that rendered your favorite tunes as digital zeroes and ones so they could be played on a CD has made music almost ubiquitously available. The ramifications are far-reaching, from the soldier in Iraq who can stay connected with his local Christian music station online, to the youth group member whose CD collection contains no CD cases (just silver disks with Christian band names scrawled with a Sharpie), to the newest car stereo's "full iPod docking" capability.

This series will examine the sweeping implications of the Internet on music in general and Christian music in particular. In Part One, we'll look at the phenomenon that rocked the music industry: Napster and illegal downloads, and today's music portability in an iPod world. Part Two will recount the growth and volatile future of Internet Radio.  Finally, Part Three will consider perhaps the most tangible outcome of the Internet: the much-debated impending death of the compact disc.

Two new additions to today's dictionaries have played a pivotal role in taking music off the disc: Napster and iPod. The history of the former is a lesson in legality and morality. The latter is lauded for both design and marketing simplicity. Both have played an unquestionable role in getting more music to more people in more ways than ever before.

I recall Napster's icon—that strange little headphoned cat—popping up on so many desktops at the office in the first part of this decade, and I confess to signing in and downloading a handful of songs, at no cost, before the pangs of conscience won out. For many, Napster still represents an alphabet soup of peer-to-peer file sharing services that have been targeted by the music industry as public enemy number one: illegal downloads. "File sharing" sounds innocuous enough, but the fact remains that many Christians click on illegal downloads and rip CDs just like their secular peers, despite the dubious morality.

For their part, the Gospel Music Association has attempted to build awareness of both the ethical and financial implications. President John Styll reports on the progress: "I have to believe that our efforts to educate and counter the effects of illegal downloading and CD burning/ripping have had some impact, but it is difficult to measure. More people are now aware that it is illegal and wrong, but behaviors have not changed much. Overall, the record business has lost billions in revenue the past five years." (In 2005, Christian Music Today reported on the GMA's anti-piracy campaign here.)

Following a lawsuit that made headlines in 2001, Napster is now a legal subscription service, and I've since deleted or purchased those songs I downloaded. My experience mirrors a defense many have used to rationalize illegal downloads: they give people a taste of a certain artist and hope that, if that taste is palatable, a legal purchase will follow.

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