Behind the Music: How Factory Workers and Pirates Upended the CD Era
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The real story behind the rise of MP3s and fall of CDs centers on tech-savvy factory workers in Shelby, North Carolina who smuggled and leaked unreleased music.
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Worker Dell Glover and mysterious pirate leader "Kali" formed an unknowing partnership, funneling ripped music from artists like Eminem to file-sharing networks.
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The leaks disrupted album rollouts and marketing plans, angering artists who'd invested creative efforts into full album experiences.
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Younger pirates didn't understand the economic damage, seeing it as harmless trolling, while underpaid workers felt justified taking from a gluttonous industry.
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The story resonates today as AI models allegedly trained on copyrighted content pose a new threat, though solutions likely lie in agreements, not suppression.