Introduction
Production and promotion in music have changed and this is because new technology being introduced. Some examples of technological changes include the introduction of new software for computers, synthesizers, digitisation and various websites online (the internet). There has also been the improvement of former technology such as the electric guitar and microphones. Due to these technological advancements, a 10-year-old can successfully compose and record a complete song in their bedroom with just a computer and publish it for free on streaming website such as YouTube. This used to involve forming a band with a singer, guitarists, drummer, etc. and performing hundreds of gigs/concerts/festivals and signing to a major record label. There has been a lot of technology introduced into the music industry. However, the most notable changes in technology have been new equipment, software and streaming websites.
Section 1 – the effect of computing on the music industry
Music software was first introduced back in the 1960s. This software ran on very large computers at several universities in America, including Stanford and Penn State (1). In 1978, there was a change in the use of software in music due to the introduction of Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), which is still used to this day.
MIDI is a widely used standard for connecting electrical musical instruments and computers. MIDI also gave producers complete control over instruments and production as it allowed them to play directly into the software. During the development of technology in the music industry, it has seen the introduction of new equipment such as MIDI instruments. MIDI was introduced in 1983 by a number of music industry representatives, and the MMA (short for MIDI Manufacturers Association) helps maintain it (2). MIDI allows producers/artists to play multiple sounds using one controller, commonly a keyboard, this allows artists to set up stages for concerts very easily and makes instruments much more portable. The first MIDI instruments that were released were the Roland Jupiter-6 and the Prophet 600 (2). MIDI technology, originally, was only used by professional musicians in the production of popular music. The standard MIDI instrument allows producers to connect directly to computers, and this caused a huge increase in sales and production of MIDI instruments and also music software. MIDI was introduced along-side the era of ‘personal computers’ and the also the introduction of digital synthesizers and samplers. MIDI technology has been recognised by ‘reviving’ the music industry in the 1980s. MIDI enabled musicians a variety of ways to work and MIDI sequencing allowed users with no notation skills (can’t understand music) to arrange a complicated song. MIDI allowed artists to perform with as little as one or two members, using multiple MIDI-enabled devices, to perform as if they were a bigger group playing multiple instruments as opposed to one or two members. This meant that artists didn’t have to hire ‘outside’ musicians for a live performance or for a recording of a song. MIDI technology also introduced home recording which allowed artists to arrive at a recording studio with an already, partially made song which reduces the costs of recording. MIDI technology has also allowed music technology to become educational.
Music software has had a big effect on the music industry as it is used in almost every song that is heard today. Nowadays, songs will be recorded on DAWs (digital audio workstations). These are very easy to use and allow anyone to start making music with just a computer, rather than a team of professionals making a song in a recording studio. Some examples of DAWs are Logic Pro X, FL Studio and Ableton Live. DAWs are also very cheap, allowing the average person to afford them. Logic Pro X is $199.99, the complete FL Studio experience is £215.00 and the complete experience of Ableton Live is £579.00. There are cheaper alternatives but these are the most popular DAWs used in the music industry now. One example of a cheaper alternative is Garageband.
Auto-tune, created by Antares Audio Technologies, is an audio processor that takes an ordinary vocal recording to measure and alter the pitch of that recording to make their vocals sound much ‘cleaner’. Auto-tune was originally intended to only mask artists’ off-key mistakes, making vocal recordings perfectly tuned rather than being off-pitch. However, auto-tune is now used very differently in today’s music. Today, auto-tune is used to distort vocal tracks to raise or lower pitches immensely, which sounds as if the artist is leaping from note to note as if the voice was a synth. Auto-tune is available as a plugin used in software’s (see Section 1) or as a digital audio workstation used in studios or for live shows. One example of auto-tune (around when it was released) being used in a popular song include Cher’s “Believe”. Auto-tune, in this song, was used to distort the vocals to make Cher leap from note to note. Modern day artists who use auto-tune include Travis Scott, Lil Uzi Vert and Lil’ Wayne. In the late 2000s, auto-tune was used the most and this was because of T-Pain who uses auto-tune regularly throughout his song. Since then auto-tune has been used in other songs/albums. For example, Travis Scott’s “Goosebumps” and regularly used in Kanye West’s “808s & Heartbreak” album. Auto-tune clearly had an instant effect on the music industry, both positive and negative. Auto-tune, the technology that can improve anyone’s vocals in perfect key, was unsurprisingly an instant hit in the music industry. A quote from Andy Hildebrand, the initial creator of auto-tune, states that "within a year we had sold to every major studio in the world, and that was a year or two after Cher did her song 'Believe'". However, critics still argue whether or not auto-tune caused a boom in the music industry, or was a complete disaster. Time magazine included auto-tune in the 2010 list of ‘The 50 Worst Inventions’, saying that it is “technology that can make bad singers sound good and really bad singers sound like robots.” Many bands/artists have shown their thoughts on auto-tune with Indie-band Death Cab for Cutie showed up at the 2009 Grammy Awards wearing blue ribbons to "raise awareness against auto-tune abuse", and Jay-Z who released a song in 2009 entitled D.O.A. (which stands for Death of Auto-tune). A quote from a CNN article describes auto-tune best: “It seems that auto-tune might be to music what Photoshop is to photography: everybody uses it, but no one's too keen to admit it.” (3)
Section 2 – the power of the world wide web
Websites like MySpace, YouTube, and SoundCloud, have made music much more accessible to the public as they have allowed independent musicians to find a global audience without the help and backing of a major label, eliminating the need to perform live in the hope of being “discovered”. Sensing this shift in the consumption of music, record labels have also taken to using sites such as YouTube to scout for talent and also to release music videos for their own artists to support the sales of their records. This change has been good for new artists like Tinie Tempah, who used MySpace to build and cultivate an audience outside of the realms of record labels and industry politics, but is not seen as good by artists such as Ne-Yo, who first tasted success in the 2000s, and who rails against digital platforms due to the lack of royalties for artists.
The world wide web has also allowed artists to collect, and analyse, data on who is consuming their music. Understanding how a fan or listener feels about a new piece of music can prove far more valuable than money.
The downside is that the web has also allowed a boom in peer-to-peer sites, such as Napster and The Pirate Bay that allow(ed) users to illegally share music, leading to struggles to generate revenue. Most of the people who make a record are paid in royalties, and when music changes hands without money being involved, those royalties can’t be paid—which is why so much has been done in recent years to try and reduce music piracy. In a bid to curb piracy record companies have begun to offer easy, cheap downloads through outlets like iTunes and Amazon. This has helped because consumers can now purchase and download individual songs they like, rather than buy the whole album for just one song. Paradoxically, it is leading to a reduction in album sales, with 2016 recording the worst year since 1991 (4).
A more recent development has been the emergence of Internet radio and streaming services like Deezer, Spotify, and Pandora, who offer either ad-based or paid subscription streaming of their music libraries. However, this new solution is disputed by artists and labels because the current pay structures are still far less than if a consumer buys the music outright. These issues are far from being resolved.
Before the introduction of the internet and streaming websites such as Myspace, YouTube, SoundCloud and Spotify, bands/artists had to play hundreds of gigs and sign to a major record label in order for their music to be heard by the masses. Today, people can make and record a song from their room and upload it to the world wide web with just one click. Myspace is a social networking website allowing users to interact with each other online and share photos, music and videos. It was the most popular social media website from 2005-2008 and had a big effect on the music industry as it enabled artists to release their music worldwide where anyone could listen to it. Some examples of artists who built up a huge fan-base from Myspace include The Arctic Monkeys (7-time Brit Award winners and 3-time Grammy nominees) and Lily Allen (Brit Award winner and Grammy nominee). As of 2017, over 53 million songs have been uploaded to Myspace by over 14 million different artists, with over 13,000 songs being added daily by 1 billion users. The success of Myspace saw the introduction of new streaming websites such as SoundCloud, an online audio distribution platform which allows users to upload and promote songs. It has 40 million registered users (5). SoundCloud has been used by artists such as Lil Uzi Vert (2018 Grammy nominee for the best new artist and best rap performance) and Logic (2018 Grammy nominee for song of the year and best music video). One website that has had a big effect on the music industry is YouTube. YouTube has taken the music industry by storm in both a positive and negative direction. In fact, it has had such a big effect that it has been named the war between YouTube and the music industry. While some artists argue that YouTube is a website that they can use to their advantage by promoting their music to a worldwide audience. This is because YouTube is a free, worldwide website that anyone has access to if they have a computer/phone and an internet connection. However, many artists such as Taylor Swift and Jay-Z argue against the use of YouTube.
Section 3 – What instruments have technology enabled?
Section 4 – Digitisation
Digitisation is the process of converting information into a digital (i.e. computer-readable) format. Digitisation really arrived in the mainstream with the introduction of iTunes in 2000 and the iPod in 2001. This gave consumers the ability to purchase digitised music or, using ripping software, to create their own by converting their vinyl or CD collections to mp3 files, which they could then listen to on the go. The reason why it was introduced was so consumers can listen to music on the go. It was very good as it allowed consumers to decide when and where they listen to music. However, it also introduced peer to peer networking, copyright theft and the death of the album. Peer to peer networking is when someone shares music with a friend illegally (it is illegal as the friend has not bought the music).