Chapter 7: Music
Music has been around since the beginning of time. By the Renaissance period composers began to write down their music. By the 19th century people were buying music to play on their own instruments. In 1877, the fist recording machine was invented by Thomas Edison, it was called the “phonograph.” People paid money to listen to the phonograph. The music audience spent their money to buy their own phonograph or gramophone (another machine that played recordings) and bought recordings to play in their homes.
The radio was invented in 1920 and had a major impact on music history. When the radio was first introduced it helped to sell more recordings by playing them on the radio. Once the depression hit, poor people could not afford to spend their money on recordings. The radio was free to listen to and provided more than just music. Stories and news reports were broadcasted over the radio.
Mainstream music was popular with various types of people, but teenagers wanted something more. In the 1950’s, Elvis Presley impacted the music industry with rock and roll. He gave the teenagers something different.
As time pasted the format wars increased when tapes were invented along with compact discs (CDs) in 1983. One of the newer ways to listen to music is on an MP3 player. Music is downloaded off of the internet and held digitally on a compact device. The music can be downloaded legally (paid for) or illegally (not paid for; stolen).
It takes a lot of people to produce an album. The record label is one of the most important factors in producing the album along with the recording artist.
