Music & Technology's Past

Music is, and has always been, essential in social and cultural gatherings. For thousands of years societies have played music for religious events, entertainment, and celebration. In the 21^st century, the musical experience can be seen from churches to night clubs to street corners. The major growth and development of the musical industry/experience can be linked with advancements in technology over the last century. These developments have also affected various branches of society, mainly industry and social experience.

Before the 19^th century the music experience was restricted to live performance; music was played for social gatherings, theatrical performances, and religious activities. In the late 1800s, however, an invention that was able to capture and play back sound would change the music experience forever. Thomas Edison was granted a patent for a wax coated recording cylinder in 1884, and by the early 1900s wax records were being mass produced. This enabled many people to experience music genres that was unheard of in their region or culture.

The invention of the radio was the next monumental breakthrough for both music and the music industry. Originally created to ensure communication capabilities in case the country was at war, the radio not only changed the music industry, but society as a whole. (That is for another discussion). Giving an entire social class, lower classes that were not able to afford records and phonographs, the ability to listen. In order to gain the most exposure and profit the music offered is often times 'popular' consisting of the top selling singles. The disadvantage of this is the restriction to the top-selling, which interferes with underground artists' ability to gain exposure.

Music radio has yet to loose all fan base, but the next technological advancement focused on the portability of the music player. Radios were the first portable music players, but due to the disadvantages previously mentioned, portable albums were created. This led to the portable music phase (leading to the portable/digital phase) that our society still seems to be in. From 8-tracks to cassettes to compact discs, these new portable players allowed anyone to enjoy music from their favorite artist, at any time they would like.

In the last half century there have been great advances in music player technology. The greatest, by far, is the advent of the internet and digital music. With the invention of the mp3 player (mainly the iPod), people are now able to carry hundreds, even thousands, of albums and various singles. The digital music phase has created a new society of music where anyone can play, create, listen, and trade music. In the recent years, the ease of spreading information through the internet has also affected which genres are popular. Opposite from the 1980s and 90s, underground artists have emerged as the more popular among (tech-savvy) society. This trend may continue, or new technology might bring back old trends. Only time will tell.