Chapter 3 Sound Recording and Popular Music

As far as I'm concerned this is a very interesting chapter. it reveals facts about the audio world that I personally did not know. The start of recording music started in 1850 and was finalized by Thomas Edison in 1877. He simply recorded his own voice but for the time period it was revolutionary. In 1948 CBS records created a "long-playing" record. this allowed for 20 minutes of music on each side of the album. This in turn created the market for multi song records and albums.In the 1960's casatte tapes had started to become popular to the public. This was more portable for people to listen to music. This also led to the sony walkman which played casette tapes on the go. 1983 was the year that cd's had hit the market. It was stated that cd's made casettes nearly obsolete except for people who still used them such as a DJ. 1999 was the year that MP3s had become popular. it was the year that almost seemed to ruin the recording business. People learned it was more convenient and easier to download their music than go spend the money on it at the store. this lead to what we have today. Cd sales are down more than ever today because majority of people download their music offline wether it be illegal or not.

Since music has been created, their have been multiple genres to which each artist belongs. One of the most common would be Rock and Roll. Hip hop was not far behind. I learned that Hip Hop music has been around since 1880's. Some of them are known as marches that artists like John Phillip Sousa had created and Scott Joplin with his ragtime piano pieces.Rock and Roll had started in the 1950's. It was described as a "cultural storm" to the music industry since it was so influential to people. Rock and Roll started with the Blues and R&B. This started back in the 1930's and to some people was kind of a shock. Another thing that helped Rock and Roll progress was the invention of the elctric guitar. This opened a whole new world of sound. People could play loud enough to cover the sounds of people in the bar or tavern they where in at the time. The electric guitar also made new sounds which seemed to appaul some people. There have been several new creations and inventions which have helped the progression of hip hop and rock and roll to become what it has today.

Now all of this music doesn't do anybody any good if it can't be marketed and sold to the community. The music industry is controlled by several competing labels which buy the music. There are talent scouts which decide what artists are good for marketing. They then record the music in a recording studio. After the music is put together in one record or cd, it is sold then to record stores or other retail stores such as Best Buy or Wal-Mart. The music is then priced and sold to the public. While it seems to be easy to make a song then find a way to sell it but it actually takes a decent amount of time to accomplish. It has to go through several steps in order to become a good marketing device. After this is all said and done the music is published and the stars and everyone else involved makes their cut of money and fame.