The Music Industry is Losing its Spark to Technology

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“Technology and the Music Industry”

“Eight tracks were big and it was very easy for the tape to pull out of its case. Cassettes were smaller but just as messy. However the player was easier to use” said Mable Woolen. When you hear music and technology, your first thought is the beat of the music. Nowadays, no one really thinks about how one would listen to music. Music is a big part in this 21^st century and with advancing technology it only gets better. So here is an outline as to how music has transformed due to technology.

The first way one would listen to music was on a LP record. LP stands for “Long Play,” and this type of technology had to be played on a turntable. This involved a Needle type pin that would spin the record, and music would be made. It would hold two songs, one on both sides. This was used back in the beginning when music was just becoming this new way of expression back in the year of 1948, which if you think about it was not that long ago.

Technology later transformed into 8-tracks, which allowed you to play music up to any songs you had on the track in the car. This is similar to a radio. This started between the mid 1960s to the late 1970s. It became this new advanced way in which people of all ages could pre-record their music and transfer it to the 8-track for the car. Between both of these discoveries, technology continued to improve in only a short period of time. Music artists were booming, creating new beats and rhythms that could be replayed over and over. The music industry was becoming an inspiration for finding all these legendary artists who now had a way of reselling their music out to the world. Some examples of these artists would be Stevie wonder, Lionel Richie, The Jackson 5, etc.

The Cassette tape is what people would put the music on to play in the 8-track. The cassette was what we called a CD, which will come up later in the timeline of different technological effects on the music industry. “Cassettes were very messy and the more I used them, the less tape it contained” said Mable Woolen. Cassettes are these thick rectangle boxes that held string in which music would either be saved or pre-recorded on. The Cassettes came out in the same era of the 8-track. It acted as more of a combo rather than a single.

The next form of technology that played a huge impact on the music industry are CD’s. When someone hears the word CD, you automatically think mp3 or ancient history. Most are wrong though, because CD’s originally came about in 1965, but didn’t become public until 1980. That is exactly 35 years ago where they became public. “I like to think that CD’s were the thing. They were way easier, lighter to carry, and never required tape” said Danny Woolen. CD’s were just an updated version of the cassette except that it could hold music and or videos.

This was a major change for the music industry because now it was something that was lighter than a cassette, but  could hold moving pictures and videos. It was very popular for the fact that it came in a plastic disc cover which told you the songs you were buying. CD’s were also a lot cheaper than having to buy an 8-track and a cassette for a certain amount of songs you wanted to listen to. CD’s played a major money income in the Producers network and field.

The last stop for technology is digital. That’s right, digital is very controversial in my eye. I say that because it is all of the past technology combined into a way where anyone can make music. Although that is not always the case because not everyone can make true music. When one says true music, they mostly likely mean something more beneath the surface. Even though technology allows anyone to sit down and download a music app, it doesn’t make it an ACTUAL music app.

Technology has ruined the music industry in the 21^st century and the reason I say that is for several reasons. One reason is in the past technology helped ADVANCE creative thought, not to DO the creative thought. The second reason is no one ever uses technology to its fullest potential. They only use 1/4 of their brain but claim to use 3/4 of it. No one can ever use all their creativity because when you think you have run out of it, you actually have only just begun to truly use your creative thought.

So if you ask a group of children and a group of adults, you will get two different views on music and how technology has influenced the music industry. The only thing is one knows the history and how to make music while the other has no knowledge of the history of music, but will continue to make “True Music” anyway because they have yet to taste the 21^st century’s music ideas.

Attributions:

Mable Woolen- My grandmother

Danny Woolen- My uncle

www.musicindustryhowto.com

www.recording-history.org