“In my mind and in my car, we can’t rewind we’ve gone too far”. These lyrics from the Buggle’s 1979 smash hit do well to summarize the impact that technology has had on the music industry.
At 12:01 am on August 1, 1981, MTV made history when they aired the first ever music video, ironically being a song titled Video killed the radio star. This changed the game immensely. Instead of being able to strive in the music industry solely on the level of vocal skill an artist had, there was now a demand for image and presence. The prominence of television allowed for musical acts to captivate the public through both music and visuals, presenting the opportunity of more potential success.
As time passes, we see even more ways that technology is changing the way music is created and distributed. The invention of mp3s allowed for individuals to easily store a wide catalogue of music in an efficient way. The invention of the musical telegraph in 1876 became the basis of synthesizers that are used to this day.
We see history repeat itself in more recent years. The music industry was dramatically changed again with the prominence of streaming. The world wide web has allowed artists to strive on their own without help from a record label. One of the first instances of this is the rise of rapper Soulja Boy.
The growth of streaming services and the increased integration of them into technology has been extremely beneficial to the industry but this change has also had the same effect that the rise of music videos had. Many older artists with older audiences who are accustomed to purchasing music in the traditional way (physical copies) have a hard time making it onto the top charts despite their music being bought and tickets being sold.
Music and Technology 