Chris Carrabba Says Dashboard Confessional 'Wouldn't Have a Career' Without Music Piracy Surge of the Early 2000s

The surge in music piracy that arose as more households across the country logged on to the Internet in the early 2000s changed the game for countless artists.

Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carrabba says his band is one of them, talking about the time when services like Napster and Kazao became popular at NBC News Studios’ My generation.

“There’s no question that Napster affected the record industry and it was a negative effect in many ways, but not for me,” says the “Hands Down” singer.

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A student downloads music from Napster.

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“My records came out on a small label. It had limited distribution. If you found out about my band, there was no place you could go to get my music if you wanted to,” he explains.

“If it wasn’t for people who had a way to share my music, I wouldn’t have any career.”

The rise of music piracy happened just as the emo scene, of which Dashboard Confessional is a part, began to experience real growth.

Dashboard Confessional lead singer Christopher Carrabba performs on "MTV2 Unplugged" at MTV Studios in New York. 4/24/02 Photo by Scott Gries/ImageDirect

Dashboard Confessional on MTV2 Unplugged 2002.

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“The emo scene was born out of a need to dig deeper into yourself,” says Carrabba. “Young people, suddenly come to grips with a world that has now changed forever.”

The changing world of the early 2000s came with many ups and downs. Learn about the moments that made millennials, as told by Kristen Bell, at My generation.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education

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