Technology has taken the world by storm. It has revolutionized many fields, such as medicine, law, media, and industry. Music has also been impacted by technology. Composers can now devise sheet music on platforms and musicians can play online concerts for fans all around the globe. How else has technology impacted music?
Originally, music could only be heard at live concerts. Around the 1960s, music was recorded and available to music lovers in the form of audio cassettes. They were very bulky and could hold only a few songs. CDs evolved from cassettes. CDs were small and thin discs that held many songs. Compared to cassettes, they were less bulky and the recording was finetuned due to better technology. Over time, songs were digitized, and one could hear music and see recorded concerts of their favorite band or singer. Television and cable TV helped in this revolution.
Upgradation of technology further resulted in changes in the music industry. With the introduction of the internet, people now have more opportunities in music. One can work with someone on the other side of the globe to compose music. Multitrack recording is another type of technology. It assists many songwriters in recording sections of a musical piece or song and combining the sections into a full song, as multi means more than one, and a track is a song on a CD.
Digital software brought about a further revolution in the production and streaming of music. Updated production software has allowed producers to record, compose, edit, and produce songs with ease and with high quality. Even if a person does not know how to sing, this digital software can be used to modify and edit the voice. Digital streaming software allows us to listen to music wherever and whenever we want. YouTube and Spotify are some examples of digital streaming software. Technology has made cross-cultural connections with musicians to form music. The result: mixing of genres to create hybrid songs such as Afro-pop and crank.
Over the decades, music has been transformed by technology. From live concerts to cassettes and CDs, the digitization of music has taken the world by storm.
Related Stories:
https://www.wiley.com/edge/media/how-technology-has-changed-music/
https://www.britannica.com/art/music
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