Evolution of Music Through the Ages
Over the last years, the ever-present technology has played a major role in shaping the music of the twentieth century that we hear today. Gone are the days of phonograph, analog tape machines, of rewinding cassettes and carrying around a Walkman. The past decades of rapid innovation in digital technologies have had a huge impact not only in the way music is composed, but also in the way we perceive it. Digital technology has brought about a significant change in many aspects of the music business. Early digital recording hardware and software have not only made the recording process cheaper but also easier.
Combined discs clearly improved audio quality for consumers and reduced production and distribution costs. By this time the internet became advanced enough for users to share and download music online.
Then, with the entry of paid digital distribution forums, especially iTunes, changed the way digital money was made. Live streaming services like Spotify changed the way people use music. Similarly, ‘Autotune’ enables an artist to align their pitch.
Logic, Pro Tools, Ableton, FLStudios and many such digital workstations have made the recording procedure significantly easier and cheaper. One can even record and create their music within the premises of their home.
Music no longer requires recordings of cassettes and CDs and people can download almost any song they want through the file sharing forums — for free! This had led to a drop in revenue from the music industry.
Earlier, if you wanted a perfect musical note from a particular instrument you had to appoint professionals. If your drumming wasn’t on beat you had to record it endlessly until you got it right. If you couldn’t play an instrument, well, making music would be a long haul. But with the help of ‘MIDI’ i.e. Music Instrument Digital Interface you could now easily do that with pre-recorded and accurate sounds. Multi-track recording allowed the recording of multiple sounds at the same time to separate tracks and then later processed and mixed them independently.
This ease of making and recording music has now helped many of the aspiring, young and new artists to enter the industry making it more competitive and diverse along with improving the quality of music. In conclusion, creating unique and valuable music is still not an easy task. But the modification of technology has been changing ideas for the creation, recording and distribution of music. Along with the growth of technology at such a rapid rate, the profession of music and outlook of people towards it is also changing. Artists are still in the process of adjusting to the changes being made in the industry and are looking for ways of progressing and standing out in the field. Although the impact is both negative and positive, music still certainly remains a huge part of our society and culture.
By — Arshiya Sharma
