ADITI SARAWAGI
Evolution of
Music Technology
Music technology is becoming increasingly precise and
everyday newer technology is replacing the older one.
Previously, music was the only source of entertainment
and it was a community event to listen to new tracks
by gathering together at one place with a radio or a
vinyl player. Today even big names in the business,
like MTV are facing a downfall due to the digital era
and the constantly reinventing world of YouTube.
First came Vinyl Records. Sound could be recorded and
reproduced only in 2877 when the phonograph was invented
by Thomas Edison. Then came the gramophone and thus
began the purists’ long journey of asserting that vinyl records
are still the best. Headphones followed and have been a life
saviour for generations from way back as 1910! Even though
they were bulky and uncomfortable initially, today
we have the most graceful headphones
and earphones which has made life
simpler. Then followed the FM
Radio, with broadcasts from as
early as the 1930’s and became
the preferred choice of many a
household to listen to old classics
and discover new music too. FM
gave the listeners less static than
AM and by 1978 had become
supremely commonplace.
In between the growth of FM
Radio, came the phenomenal
cassette decks or the “compact
cassette,” in 1962. This was the
time when audio company Dolby
developed its noise and the first
cassette players from Advent,
Fisher and Harman Kardon
debuted in 1970. This took the
music world by storm and
music by top artists shifted
from vinyl LP’s to cassette tapes.
With the advent of cassette tapes, in
came car tape decks next. The automobile
market really pushed forward the growth
of cassettes and in late 1970 cassette
players were installed in some
cars and were an instant hit
because of its compactness.
28
The
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One of the most iconic devices of the 90’s has to be the Sony
Walkman launched in 1979. The Walkman made music
portable and it was the gadget to own. Even though it was
replaced by the advent of the digital era, there is no way the
iconic status of the Walkman can be downplayed. Then came
Compact Discs or CD’s which had much more storage ability
and were sleeker too. It was brought in my Philips and Sony
in 1982 and the personal computer era made this one a real
game changer and they were all the rage till early 2000’s.
1989 brought in more portability with Bluetooth making music
more mobile than ever and it
is till date making possible
the use of wireless speakers,
headphones
and even hands free driving.
The invention of the MP3
player in 1998 has to be
a huge development in
the industry and the
small size of music files
easily downloadable,
paved way for smarter
music listening in
the years to come.
Though the initial
MP3 players were big and
bulky with as less as 32 MB of space,
it was the Apple boom with its range of iPods
that truly made carrying around an entire music
library of as vast as 5000 songs a reality.
With the internet available in
every household, the need
to store music has passed
and everyone is streaming
music popularised by
Spotify, Apple Music, Saavn,
Hungama and innumerable
other websites. Not to forget
YouTube which has millions
of hits in a day and every
musician today has their own
channel on the website too.
Music has come a long way from
the turntable to everything available at the
touch of a screen. While the technology
giants battle it out, it is up to us the
consumers to reap the benefits.