Essay Example on Music Tech: Impact of Mass Media and Innovations

Introduction

Over time, the world has seen a considerable amount of technological innovations in the music industry. A significant change that impacted the production, spread and consumption of music was mass media. Through this platform, music was made accessible and available to the masses. The technological innovations in question are such as a compact cassette, a track tape, a Walkman, a compact disc and the world wide web to mention a few.

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Compact cassette tape

This was invented in 1963. Its inception into the world of music and audio recording heralded music's fluidity. Its impact was incredibly massive since, over time, cassettes became the primary mode for the dissemination of albums throughout the whole countries (Herzog, 2014). Cassettes phased out the huge reels and made it possible to move a multitude of songs at once without straining over long distances owing to its small size. It, therefore, changed how music was produced and consumed. It increased the production of music and consumption was a lot higher.

8-Track Tape

This was invented back in 1965 by Bill Lear. It involved a lean and efficient upgrade of a previously made model tape. Once it had been released into the tech world, it was taken up by vehicle manufacturers and car-modders who installed the eight-track player in their cars (Memories, 2019). Even though the device was clunky and heavy, it was phenomenal in how music was consumed then up until now in vehicles. The tape could hold eight tracks which meant one could have eight tracks on a single tape.

The Walkman

Sony invented this in 1979. The Walkman took the young generation at the time by storm. It was a portable design that enabled one to listen to music while on the go. This enhanced the spread of music to a much larger audience (Haire, 2009). Thus it was relatively much easier for music consumption. Walkman was at the time made mainly by Sony. It, therefore, sprung a lot of new jobs concerned with the sound quality and the general making of the Walkman.

Compact Discs(CDs)

These compact discs were invented in 1982. At this point, music was being installed into the compact disc using laser technology. That seemed futuristic at the time. It underwent a log time duration under testing to ensure everything was fine before being released. The disc could produce clear hi-fi sound. Music was converted from digital data into analog sound (Devon Shapiro, 2012). Most of the renowned artists of the time placed their songs on CDs. This was to facilitate that high-quality sound achieved by placing the music on CDs. The consumers loved the clear sound quality along with the pride of using something as futuristic as CDs made by laser beams.

The World Wide Web (WWW)

The worldwide web astonished the world 1989 even though it had been invented much earlier. Sir Tim Lee championed this platform. He charted a proposal to ease communication through a network of interlinked e-resources. Through it, artists were able to upload their music content and subject their music to a much larger audience (Gamal, 2012). Thereby, the world wide web has been responsible for the change in the way favourite music has been produced via mass media. One only has to key in the name of the music they want to listen to and they can do precisely that in a matter of seconds.

References

Devon Shapiro, M. P. (2012). The Invention of Compact Discs. Hanover: Dartmouth College.

Gamal, A. E. (2012). The Evolution of the Music Industry in the PostInternet Era. California: Claremont McKenna College.

Haire, M. (2009). The Walkman. TIME, 13-15.

Herzog, K. (2014, March 17). 24 Inventions That Changed Music. Retrieved from Rolling Stone: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/24-inventions-that-changed-music-16471/the-world-wide-web-1989-220330/

Memories, O. C. (Director). (2019). How The Car 8-Track Player Revolutionized Music Listening [Motion Picture].