Sara Chopp

COMM 108 – Media and Society

University of Wisconsin – Parkside

HISTORY OF RECORDED MUSIC

The Beginning of Recording TechnologiesIn the late 1800s, Thomas Edison invented the phonograph and made “Mary Had A Little Lamb” the first recorded audio in the history of the world.

Recording MusicMedia industries immediately realized the potential of recording technologies and began recording music.

Record Labels were created and began to rule the music industry by picking up artists and gaining the rights to their intellectual property.

This led to major labels conforming music to commercial interests in relation to social and cultural norms in order to maximize profits.

The Beginning of Commercial Distribution of MusicIn the early 1900s, the invention of the Nickel Juke Box began the mass distribution of recorded music.

The notion of prerecorded music began the constant reformation of copyright laws because of fear of infringement.

The first copyright laws protected the profit interests of producers for only music in the written form. These laws were later reformed to cover mechanized music after publishers appealed to the Supreme Court.

Moving Recorded Music into the HomeThe Victrola spurred the record player industry.

This was followed by the mass production of commercial radios, which couldn’t compete with the quality of records.

Record labels still forbade artists from working with the commercial radio industry.

With the advances in radio technologies, music quality improved, causing record sales to dwindle anyway.

THE INDUSTRIES BEGAN WORKING ON IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF RECORDED SOUND AND INVENTED THE ORTHOPHONIC, PRODUCING THE FIRST ELECTRICALLY RECORDED MUSIC.

Music and The EconomyThe Great Depression turned electronics, such as music players, into luxury items.

Record sales plummeted during this time due to free radio broadcasting.

FM radio was invented in 1933, causing AM radio outlet, RCA, to fight against the rise in use of FM radio waves in order to maintain profit in the AM radio market, and RCA succeeded.

This stunted the growth of the FM radio market and led to the suicide of its inventor, Edwin Armstrong.

CASSETTE TAPES WERE INVENTED IN THE 1930S FOR TRANSCRIPTION PURPOSES, AND WERE LATER USED FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES IN THE 1960S. RECORD LABELS WERE CONCERNED ABOUT LOSING PROFIT WITH THE RELEASE OF RECORDABLE CASSETTES DURING THIS TIME.

Competition for the Cassette Tape8 tracks were invented in 1966, but ceased to remain in the market because consumers preferred the convenience of the cassette tape over the quality of music reproduced by the 8 track.

Government & Media Industries“The U.S. Congress declares sound recordings worthy of copyright protection in passing the 1971 Sound Recording Amendment to the 1909 Copyright Statute. Though this amendment is proposed largely in response to the record industry's complaints of vinyl bootlegging, the implications of the amendment are applied to the burgeoning recordable cassette market. Record executives complain that teenagers tape and swap their favorite albums, and advocate a tax on blank cassettes to make up for the lost revenue from tape trading. With music sales still growing, the objections to taping are largely unheard.” (Taintor, 2004).

The Walkman was invented in the 1970s, making music transportable for an individual, but only created to play cassette tapes, pushing 8 tracks out of the industry.

Technology & The Music IndustryCDs were invented in the 1980s.

The popularity of CDs and CD players forced audiences to replace their vinyl records with CDs, having a positive affect on the success of the music industry.

Manufacturers attempted to rival the CD with a digital audio tape, but record labels refused to produce prerecorded DATs, causing them to fail before reaching the consumer market.

WITH THE INCREASED POPULARITY OF THE INTERNET AMONGST CONSUMERS, MP3S WERE INVENTED IN ORDER TO PUT AUDIO RECORDING INTO CYBER SPACE, LEADING TO STREAMING AUDIO ON THE INTERNET. “THE AUDIO HOME RECORDING ACT OF 1992 REQUIRES MANUFACTURERS OF DIGITAL RECORDERS TO PAY A 2 PERCENT ROYALTY RATE TO COPYRIGHT HOLDERS TO COMPENSATE FOR THE EASE OF PIRACY THAT DIGITAL RECORDING ALLOWS. IN ADDITION, DIGITAL AUDIO RECORDING DEVICES ARE REQUIRED TO INCLUDE A DEVICE THAT PROHIBITS SERIAL COPYING.” (TAINTOR, 2004).

Breaking Free from Record LabelsIn 1997, Prince released an album online, selling 100,000 albums independently.

This reveals the true economic threat the Internet is to the commercial music industry.

Prior to this, the industry and government worked together to regulate music products in order to maximize profit.

The Internet provides a means for artists to work independently without having to conform to industry norms or share earnings with a record label.

The RIAA began to sue individuals distributing and downloading music illegally on the Internet.

Musicians & PiracyIn 1999, the RIAA, Dr. Dre, and Metallica filed suit against Napster for copyright infringement.

Napster was ordered to remove any copyrighted materials from its servers, and was forced to shut down in 2001.

Other file sharing sites began hosting pirates of recorded music, but didn’t use a centralized server to harbor all of the products.

It was ruled that these networks did not violate copyright laws, only their users did.

ITUNES WAS RELEASED TO PREVENT ILLEGAL DOWNLOADING OF MUSIC IN ORDER TO PROTECT THE PROFIT INTEREST OF RECORD LABELS

THEN CAME….

AS TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES, RECORDED MUSIC EVOLVES, CAUSING MUSIC CORPORATIONS TO ADAPT TO THE CHANGING ENVIRONMENT BY CONFORMING

RECORDED MUSIC TO THE CURRENTLY ESTABLISHED MARKET, AND THE GOVERNMENT TO ADAPT REGULATIONS IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE

MARKET AND OWNERSHIP OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.

HISTORY OF RECORDED MUSIC TIMELINE

History of Recorded Music Product SalesTechnological advances change the demands of consumers, causing an economic shift in music production.

This shift contributes to the reformation of the music industry, the artists, and the audience.

These changes also influence our society socially, culturally, and politically.

This is a result of technology providing an outlet for independent musicians to a mass worldwide audience.

This allows individuals to maintain the authenticity of their intellectual work without having to conform to the profit interests of a record label.

How Technology is Reshaping the Music IndustryThe Internet has pushed record labels to the margins of the music industry.

This has allowed many artists to create their own independent labels.

With Radio Head taking the lead, many bands have began to release their music for free online or used a donation system to allow the consumer to decide how much to pay for the product.

This new business models is providing recorded music consumers with the ability to choose music based on their individual preferences and to choose how much the product is worth.

This has allowed the musicians to maintain the authenticity and mission of their music in its original form and to attract audience members world wide.

WHAT DOES THE INTERNET IMPLY FOR ARTISTS, THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, THE GOVERNMENT, AND THE AUDIENCE?