How Technology has Changed the Music Industry

This past summer, while I was helping my dad insulate the attic roof, a large black box caught my eye from the corner of the garret in which I had never ventured before. The box was about 2 feet long, a foot deep, and covered in a thick layer of dust.  Upon questioning, my dad told me that within the box was a record player given to him when he was younger. On my mission to recover the musical artifact of the past, I tip-toed on the evenly spaced ceiling slats, trying my best not to step on the thin layers of sheet rock in between. Dispersed around the record player were several stacks of vinyls, many displaying leather and denim clad musicians rocking haircuts of the 80's.

I lugged the cumbersome box and as many records as I could possibly hold in one trip across the attic and carefully down the retractable ladder/stair combination.  As I pulled the dust cover off of the box I was immediately greeted with the faint, familiar smell that reminded me of the antique stores my parents used to drag me into as a kid.  Anxious to play my first vinyl album, I grabbed 'Talking Heads: 77' from the top of the pile.  I slid the vinyl out of the faded red cover and handled it by the sides as if not to scratch the fine grooves on the surface.  I placed the record on the platter, turned on the power of the record player, and as the flimsy disk started to spin. I did my best to place the needle at the beginning of a song.  Immediately, music started pouring out of the built in speakers mid-song.  Amid the funky base and the lead singer's wailing voice was a faint popping noise that almost sounded like green wood in a bonfire.  It was delicate enough not to distract from the music, but it's presence was certainly felt.  As the record continued to spin, I examined the contents of the red vinyl casing.  Within was a paper sleeve that presented a full listing of the tracks and lyrics, artfully displayed and neatly organized.  All of these things, the delicate handling of the record as it was pulled out of its sleeve, the ambient popping noise of the needle, the vinyl cover art, all produced an entirely new music listening experience for me.

With the continuous advancement of technology, many aspects of society, economy, politics, culture, and entertainment adapt to incorporate its profound convenience.  In the case of music and its industry, large changes can be observed over the short span of a few decades.  Large, bulky record players were eventually replaced with 8-track tape players, which were eventually replaced by, at one time, seemingly compact CD players, which were then once again replaced the advent of MP3 players.   Along with the adaptation of music's mode of presentation came a shift in the way listeners experienced the music.  Instead of subjecting everyone within a room's radius, music is now often enjoyed by the individual through use of compact headphones.   Entire music libraries, ones that, at one time, would consume the real estate of an entire room, can now fit on an SD card smaller than my thumbnail.  Storage capacity is not the only thing that experienced large scale transformations.  The ways in which people buy music, and many times steal music, has changed as well.  Online stores such as Itunes, made it possible to buy individual tracks as opposed buying the whole album.  Many artists pay close attention to the format and flow of the tracks within an album and when listeners buy single tracks, an entire dynamic is missed.  This, however, did allow for mixes, in which individuals would compile a list of their favorite songs into one playlist and, in turn,  created an easier way to share and find new music.   Online radio has also become widely popular as listeners desire tracks tailored to their genre and style of choice.   Computers replace radio DJ's as a means of choosing the next song.  Although many of these changes may seemingly boost the convenience and ease of enjoying and sharing music, many artists and professionals of the music industry would suggest otherwise.



With regards to the past, polyvinyl Chloride disks are less commonly bought and MP3 files are more commonly stolen.  With the arrive of online peer-to-peer sharing companies such as Napster and LimeWire, music advocates were able to exchange and transfer music files with the click of a mouse, and only at the cost of using the internet.  Online file sharing has contributed to a 60% decrease in the profits of music industries over the last decade.  My home city, Nashville, also known by the moniker "Music City," took a large blow as music became less frequently bought.  Since, Tennessee has passed stricter copyright and file-sharing laws to try and protect its interests.

               

When it comes to the listening experience and the business strategies of the music industry, and society in general, many things must constantly adapt as technology continues to advance.

-Andrew Mason