How Tech Changed the Way We Listen to Music

Technology consistently helped accompany the adviser afterpiece to the music. Progressing from wax tubes, to records, to cassettes, to CDs, anniversary jump has benefited the music fan. But maybe it's gone a bit too far.

The History

Admittedly, new music formats accept consistently afflicted the way we accept to music. However, I don't anticipate any accept had such an aftereffect over the endure 60 years as the move to MP3 and added agenda book formats. The appearance of the 45 RPM individual in the 50s is arguably the aboriginal big about-face in the way accepted music was consumed. Annal went from longer-playing 78s and 33s, to the cheaper 45 format, which agitated two or three songs on a disc, and became abundant added attainable for accumulation consumption. Soon, every big pop artisan was absolution their big hits on 45s, and this became the capital approach of consumption.

Then came cassettes, which shrank down the almanac assimilate alluring blur and brought the long-playing anthology aback into vogue. Cassingles aswell remained accepted a part of consumers, but the abstraction of the anthology as the capital acquirement was accepting beef afresh because tapes were added abiding and easier to store. It aswell fabricated it attainable for humans to almanac their own mixes absolute easily.

But the botheration with all these analog formats is that they wore down and base over time. Vinyl absent it's complete superior the added you played it, aching easily, and autumn it in the amiss abode altitude would bastardize it's shape. Tapes would complete deadened over time, and the absolute band could calmly be spooled out from the cassette.

Enter the Bunched Disc. Created as a way to anticipate the abasement of complete over time, the bunched disc ushered in the agenda era of music, but it wasn't after complaints. Audiophiles said the complete was algid and sterile, and purists afraid about the abstraction you could skip about the anthology adjustment so easily, that albums were meant to be listened to sequentially, and not on one-track echo for hits. It aswell wasn't impervious, still accountable to abrading and consecutive inclement playback. Still, it was the best attainable advantage to get music to consumers, until the MP3.

Too Abundant Music

Sometimes, I feel the acceleration of MP3s fabricated music too simple to obtain. Instead of demography time to acknowledge acceptable work, we now absorb as abundant music as we possibly can. My music accumulating feels added impersonal, to the point that I accept albums I've forgot I downloaded. Sometimes I'll accept to an anthology I like just once, and never blow it again. Why?

Because at any accustomed time, I accept about 10-20 added new albums I'm absent to analysis out. There's just not abundant time to accord every anthology the aforementioned attention, and if you try to absolutely get into a scattering of albums, you absence out on 100 added new releases.

The MP3 era is enabling the music junkie's abortive adventure to break up on all music, at all times.

But that's not to say it's all bad. Albums that acclimated to yield me months to clue down in the accomplished can be begin with a few account of google ingenuity. I've been able to accept to artists I ability accept alone accepted by name in the past, and not accept to delay for accumulated America to accomplish their music attainable to the masses.

Narrowing Tastes

Despite the abundantly added array of music attainable to the boilerplate music listener, I feel like people's tastes are in fact narrowing, added than they're aberration out. Sure, the hardcore music fan will go out and dig out abstruse artists in 20 altered genres. But for the accidental indie bedrock fan, it's just as simple to go out and acquisition 20 added bands who complete just like Sigur Ros.

As a result, you acquisition humans digging added into genres that they absolutely like, while blank the admission they accept to so abounding added abundant genres. The acceleration of internet forums and communities based about assertive kinds of music accept alone helped admirers to analyze with added agreeing individuals and durably anchor themselves.

However, the acceleration of unclassifiable, genre-free music this decade would assume to go adjoin my angle of absorption tastes. Admirers accept accepted musicians who cull from a array of acutely different influences, and arouse the locations into a accomplished new beast.

Artists as big as Timbaland, as baby as the Avalanches, as awe-inspiring as Flying Lotus, or as bright as M.I.A accept all fabricated a name for themselves by carefully blank the boundaries of genre. And as a result, I've apparent myself and abounding of my accompany digging into genres, accomplished and present, they ahead had ignored. We're bigger music admirers because of this.

The Death of the Album, The Acceleration of Musical A.D.D.

I accusation the iPod. Before MP3s, if you capital to accept to something, you at atomic had to admit a complete album, or at atomic yield the time to section calm a mixtape. Tracklists meant added aback then, because it was added difficult to adapt the adjustment (save for the skip/shuffle functions).

These days, you can applesauce out whatever you wish into an unfocused playlist and yield it on the go. Add or decrease songs in a amount of seconds, it's a thought-free process. There's no charge to accord a accomplished anthology the time of day anymore if you can just add your favorite. We all accept Musical A.D.D.

But the accuracy is, I'm just getting a batty purist. If CDs aboriginal came out, vinyl purists lamented how too abounding advance were arranged into the 74-minute accommodation discs, and how calmly humans could just about-face from clue to track. Before that, the absolute pop music ability was formed about 45 RPM singles in the 50s and 60s.

So while the crotchety old man in me wants to say that we charge to bottle the complete album, the accuracy is that it's acceptation a part of music admirers has consistently afflicted and evolved.

As abundant I wish to say MP3s accept broke all our alert habits, the accuracy is, they've just pushed us into the next beachcomber of music culture. Maybe it agency the anthology tracklist absolutely is dead. Maybe I'll alone accept to a complete anthology already or alert from actuality on out. Or maybe it just agency humans charge to alpha authoritative more absorbing albums aces of such attention.