Think of how you listen to music . To us , we have the luxury of queuing up our songs on Spotify or Apple Music etc . and just listening to them . And that ’ s very similar to how we ’ d probably pick a loaf of bread or biscuits off the shelf at a supermarket . To most of us , that ’ s enough to keep us going for the day . I just want my tunes everyday . Does it really matter how I get them ? Maybe , maybe not . But there are multiple industries built over decades to make sure you get to enjoy your music the way you do . So its worth going into these to understand how the music you listen to , sounds the way it does and how it got there .
Music has existed for as long as we can remember and studies show that it came before consolidated language systems . Naturally , as the world around us grew and evolved , so did the interactions we shared with music . Fast forward a few decades and you ’ re at the development of the first formal systems to codify music . This dictionary of sorts helped music spread to different places . But nothing could capture how it sounded in that moment .
Enter tape-recorders and vinyl recorders . It helped artists record their music in real-time and send that recording to whoever needed it . The reference came directly from the source . Brilliant idea , isn ’ t it ? ‘ Bet we can change the world with it ’ thought a few people . And they started building equipment dedicated to this and designing rooms that aided the best and accurate capturing of the sound . That ’ s how the Recording Industry grew . Humble beginnings . But what ’ s the point of recording music if people can ’ t listen to them ? That led to the development of an industry dedicated towards commercial audio-players like gramophones and radios and players etc .
What about the musicians ? They needed new toys too . And so people built the guitar amplifier , the electric bass , the synthesiser , the modern drumkit , effects pedals , etc . New music was being made with new toys and new recording equipment . And people could listen to it all with their new shiny record players etc . How do we get it to them ? Record Labels stepped in as a solution . They ’ d consolidate a list of artists and produce them and market them to the audience . To promote this , they ’ d also send the performers on tours . So far , we ’ ve touched upon the relationship music has with the Technology , Architecture , Engineering , Event Managing , Recording , Marketing , Writing , Publishing and Manufacturing industry ( and in a meta sense , the Educational Field too ). Lets go further down this rabbit hole .
As computation evolved , we started finding new ways to create music through softwares . Computation also gave us a great avenue in terms of how we can market and make music more accessible . We went from having a massive vinyl with 10 songs at best , to having 1000 songs on a phone . And a huge chunk of this is due to the power of the internet . Internet marketing and iTunes and the iPod played a huge role in changing how we listened to music . You could buy songs and listen to them on a device that ’ s tiny enough to fit in your palm ? Witchcraft ! But nobody could ’ ve expected streaming to take off like it did .
We don ’ t really need to buy physical copies or even own digital copies to listen anymore . We can do it for free . How did we go from live-or-nothing to listen to whatever , whenever you want ? Solely because of all the industries that developed around making music get to where it is . Music was a commodity that can constantly be improved to create new avenues of listening and change experiences . Hopefully , with this new approach shown , you can go back to streaming your playlist with a lot more appreciation for how you get to do it .
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