Introduction
Technology is making advancement in every field. In the same way, technology helps the music lovers to come close towards the music. Moving ahead from the wax tubes to records, to cassettes, then towards the CDs and now in mobile phones, with every jump of the technology in this field benefited the music lovers. Due to the app development of Android and iPhone, anyone can access the enormous library of the music with even making any major purchase for music. Due to technological innovations, it is undeniable that music profound changes. Nowadays, mp3 is obsolete part of our daily lives. This research paper highlights the impact of the change in technology on music in both positive and negative manner.
Discussion
History
Undeniably, the new formats of the music always change the way of listening. The introduction of the 45-RPM single is perhaps the great advancement in the way of the consumption of the music. After that, the records went towards a cheaper format that was 45 format, from the longer playing 78s and 33s (Molteni, 389-406). That 45s format contains 2 to 3 songs on a single disc, due to which it became more available and easy to get for the massive consumption. Due to which the pop artists started releasing their songs in 45s format. After that the cassettes, which shortened, down record onto the magnetic film and took back the long-playing album into the trend. The main reason behind its consumption was the easy storage and extra durability of these tapes, and it allowed the people to mix it up by recording their own voice into it. However, the main drawback of that tape was that as the time passes, they started degrading and wore down. Moreover, there sound quality change as they played more and more, and they affected by the weather condition, because certain weather and climatic conditions wrap its shape.
After the cassette, there came the era of the compact disc. Due to the prevention of the degradation of the sound over time, compacted disc escorted the era of digital music. However, they also had a drawback, as there sound was cold and sterilized. Traditionalists were worried as there was the idea of skipping the music along the order of the album very easily. Moreover, this compact disc was also vulnerable, liable to scratching and subsequent choppy playback (Katz, 45-66). Regardless of these drawbacks, they were the best available options for the music lovers, until the arrival of MP3.
Too Much Music
As the technology has changed the formats of the music storage for the easy access, MP3 made the music to obtain easily, and we can consume as much music as we want to consume. But with the ease of access of large libraries of the music, most of the collection of someone’s music look increasingly impersonal. As mostly, people even forget the albums that they have even downloaded. Most of the persons just listen to the music once and then they never even get time to listen to it due to massive music stuff. Moreover, at some time people have about 5 to 10 new albums that they want to check out. Nevertheless, there is not even enough time for listening to certain albums and giving attention to them. Moreover, when taking time for these albums and give time to listen towards them, many new releases of the music pop up which they will miss. The era of the MP3 is enabling the music lover’s ineffective pursuit to stay up all the time for every music. Instead of this, the technology really helps the people to find any music album within few minutes, which took time in the past to search for any music. Even one can listen to their favorite artists, whom they only know by just name in the past, but did not be able to listen to their songs.
Narrowing Tastes
In spite of the massive collection of the music for the music lovers, it is affecting the tastes of the people as if they are narrowing it and branching out. No doubt, that music lover will go out and dig out obscure artists in different genres, which some of them will go out easily and can find any random bands who sound just like Sigur Ros. Which results in the dipping of the persons into their favorite music, and ignoring the other massive collection of the music that they have access to. Due to the rise of the internet forums and communities that are based along a certain type of music helped the music lovers in the identification of other individuals who are like-minded to them and that decisively embed themselves.
Moreover, the narrow taste arises due to the uplift of genre-free and unclassified music. Music lovers have support and cheer those musicians that successfully pull various varieties of apparently unrelated influences and are able to reassemble the old music into a new beast. Many of the artists who made their name including the small artists like Avalanches, as great as Timbland and As colorful as M.I.A ignores the boundaries of the genre. Due to which many of the people previously like the genre, but now they ignored it. That’s the problem behind that enormous music availability that one can no longer stick and enjoy the one track due to the availability of an ocean music tracks.
The rise of Musical A.D.D
Before the invention of MP3s, someone had to put an entire album and he had to take some time for the mixtape to piece it together. The track lists at that time were meant to be blacker, as it was very difficult to work for the rearranging of the order like shuffling function and saving for the skip. Now the technology had helped a lot for providing the quick access to the music. Nowadays, due to the technology one can add or subtract the required music according to their taste into any unfocused playlist, and can change it at any time. Technology had saved our time from that consumption of the whole time towards that loading of the entire album. Technology really relieved us in saving time, and in consuming the music wherever we want.
In the 21st century, with the invention of the earbuds with the production of Apple iPods consumption of the music gets to another level, but the drawback is it was that the downside was not being able to isolate the music well due to which the volume turned up for the compensation. Then, the buds being replaced by the earphones, which results in the better isolation and reasonable volume because they fit well into the ear canal. Then the Spotify raised with the access of the massive music collection by just paying a reasonable pay for the monthly subscription. Then the earphones brands including the Skull Candy in 2003, Trueblood V-80, and Trueblood Maker becomes very popular (Jmcacademy.edu.au). After that, the Beats get the popularity in 2008 among the people, due to its wireless featured, and it makes the consumption of music even easier in the public places as well.
Technology has changed many of the aspects of the music consumption, but for the greatest artists, the easily accessible apps, services of the music streaming, and the Billboard charts have changed their design in the recognition of the streaming’s importance in their normal life. In addition, this aspect changes the way for the access of new projects for their fans. Previously, the artist’s success based on the fact that how many time their singles been played on the radio and how much of their albums are being purchased or being sold from any other traditional retailer (Jain, 289-302). Now the artists can simply drop their project out and then allow the streaming numbers to decide whether it will be pushed as single or as deep cuts.
By the time of the development of different apps by certain app development companies for making the music more accessible for smartphone owners, they didn’t have any clue that this can make a very strong ripple effect for the entire music industry. Once the music lover heads towards the piracy sites for searching the music when a new album released for getting the free copy, are now have to wait to upload that album to their favorite streaming channels by their favorites. The amount of that urgency has now been replaced with the unexpectedly amount of the tolerance. Because now a person does not have to search for the new albums, they just have to wait to upload that album on their favorite streaming channel or services within 24 hours. Moreover, now the artists do not have to worry about their music to be leaked as it is already been showcased to the public. The search engines have solved the problem behind the finding of the music in the ocean of the internet.
Before the 21st century, for listening to music people gathered in a house for listening to their favorite release, and it was only possible due to the usage of some expensive equipment including Victrolas and the famous LPs, and this equipment mostly took a great amount of space. The pessimists believed that the music coming through these equipment were the purest, but the truth is something else. The modern musical equipment gives the supreme quality of the music as compared to the previous technology. Nowadays, the instruments are very easier to handle, and the small speakers today are capable of given high-quality music due to the headphones that have progressed over the years (NPR.org). Some persons have a believed that the modern technology and internet has served in the killing of the music, due to a seeable reduction in the sales of the album.
Conclusion
Technology has modified the music industry and it provides the ease of access for the music lovers as well as the ease of release of the album for the artists. Technology has progressed in a way that now there is no need for managing a larger space for the lengthy equipment like past. Headphones and beats have now make it easy to enjoy the music without the deterioration of the quality. Besides this, the large amount of the music that is easily accessible have made much irrelevant and impersonal collection in any person’s phone. Moreover, the unclassified and genre-free music results in the narrowing of the taste.
Works Cited
Molteni, Luca, and Andrea Ordanini. “Consumption patterns, digital technology and music downloading.” Long Range Planning 36.4 (2003): 389-406.
Katz, Mark. Capturing sound: How technology has changed music. Univ of California Press, 2010.
Jain, Rajnish, and Shilpa Bagdare. “Music and consumption experience: a review.” International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management 39.4 (2011): 289-302.
“JMC Academy How Technology Has Changed Music Production.” Jmcacademy.edu.au. N. p., 2016. Web. 18 Apr. 2018.
“The Decade In Music: The Way We Listen Now.” NPR.org. N. p., 2009. Web. 18 Apr. 2018.
