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27 Years Ago, the First Legal Music File-Sharing Site Went Public, Only to Be Crushed by the Record Companies

Mp3.com could have been revolutionary for the music industry, if not for that pesky copyright law.

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On July 21, 1999, Mp3.com went public after amassing millions in investments from companies like Cox Interactive Media. Once it went public, shares cost roughly $68, and it raised more than $370 million in a single day. This seemed like the future of music file sharing, the precursor to streaming as we now know it.

But within the next couple of years, Mp3.com would face opposition from the major record companies. Lawsuits would eventually force site owners Michael Robinson and Greg Flores to sell the URL, which would eventually get shut down. Without the legality of Mp3.com acting as sheriff of a lawless town, illegal file sharing filled the void.

When we think of mp3 file sharing, Napster and Limewire usually come to mind. Those two sites were often at the forefront of copyright lawsuits and anti-piracy campaigns. But Mp3.com was unique within that world. It had high-profile investors like Alanis Morissette, who made roughly $3.4 million in profits after selling her........

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