Ongoing History Daily: The first legal download, part 1
When the internet first started getting mainstream attention in the 1990s, some forward-thinking people in the music industry saw the potential of the new technology.
Geffen Records was one of the few record labels that saw the internet as the future, so they decided to try and experiment. Geffen approached the management for Aerosmith to see if they wanted to be involved. It turns out that the band had a track called “Head First” that was left over from the sessions for their 1993 album, Get a Grip.
Keep in mind that this was before anyone was building websites, so Geffen contacted CompuServe, one of the early consumer-facing internet companies. It had two million users at the time and music fans were all over their chatrooms. This gave everyone an idea. More next time.
