How Did Technology Shape American Culture

where it has different types of music based on this genre. As technology started to progress, so

The era of the Roaring Twenties, was a time of great societal change. Many of these changes were greatly influenced by jazz music. During this time, the country was coming out of World War I and the attitude of most people was dark and dismal. Dance and music clubs became tremendously popular in an effort to improve the quality of life for many people.

popular music, from rhythm ‘n blues to jazz, from soul to rock ‘n roll. The musical genre

Founded in 1926 by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), NBC is the oldest major broadcast network in the United States.

The early part of the 20th century saw a rise in blues and jazz. African American music at this time was classed as “race music”. At the time “race” was a term commonly used by African American press to speak of the community as a whole with empowering point of view, as a person of “race” was one involved in fighting for equal rights. Also, developments in the fields of visual arts and the Harlem Renaissance led to developments in music. The end of the Civil War freed the slaves, but the cotton glut after reconstruction left most of the South desperately poor. A new form of music in depression and poverty, swept the country - that was The Blues. The very first reported Blues show was in 1916, on Ashley Street in Jacksonville. The performer was Ma Rainey alongside Bessie Smith. Together they forerunner of the new style. Male Blues singer next made their mark with simple melodies and plaintive songs. The Schoolworkhelper Editorial Team stated in their article, “Blue Music: History and Origins”, “The main influence of blues was African music which has a strong and steady beat using drums or other instruments. Its beat and singing showed in the blues….They were a mixture of storytelling and talking with a definite call and response. Religious music was very important in forming blues music. Because most African Americans went to Christian churches from an early age and were exposed to Christian hymns.” In the end, Blues came from many places, played an important part in African American culture, and was and still is a popular form of music for

Thomas Edison created the Tin Foil Phonograph on accident while he was experimenting with the transmitter of the telegraph. The Tin Foil Phonograph is a machine that can store and replay sounds. Edison was the first to use tin foil to wrap around the cylinder to store the recording. He made the Tinfoil phonograph in 1870 and then later created the phonograph in 1877. “However, in December of 1877, Edison developed a method for recording sound: the phonograph”

Nowadays we have Televisions and the Internet to tell others about our opinions, but back in the 1930's these things did not exist. Instead, pastors used radios. It was a new idea at first, but it quickly caught on, and by 1946 there were Church of God pastors speaking on 45 different radio stations. The Board of Church Extensions and Home Missions decided it would be beneficial to sponsor a radio program that could be heard across the entire nation. The first time it aired was in

In 1877 the first phonograph was invented by Thomas Edison. The phonograph was the first method of recording and playing back sound. This was Edison's first great invention. The new invention gave Edison international fame. He toured the country with the phonograph and was even invited to the White House to demonstrate the invention to President Rutherfor B. Hayes in 1878. The records had a spiral groove etched into it with sound information that the "arm" of the gramophone, which held a needle, would run through while being hand-cranked and play the sound through the gramophone speaker. The record was the first sound recording that could be mass produced in 1900 which was perfected by Eldridge Johnson. LPs (Long Playing record) also known

and the U.K. With the help of journalists, radio relayed news of the war to the public. It was also a rallying source and was used by the government to gain public support. In the U.K. it became the primary source of information after the shutdown of television stations. The way in which radio was used also changed the world after World War II. While it had been a source of entertainment in the form of serial programs, it began to focus more on playing the music of the time. The "Top-40" in music became popular and the target audience went from families to pre-teens up to adults in their mid-thirties. Music and radio continued to rise in popularity until they became synonymous with one another. FM radio stations began to overtake the original AM stations, and new forms of music, such as rock and roll, began to

Edison decided to go with a rotating disk that was topped with tin foil, rather than a fully metal plate (Millard 1995; Edison 1878; Brock-Nannestad and Fontaine 2008). In addition to being credited as the first machine to both record and play back sound (much to Cros chagrin, who wrote the French Academy of Sciences and the Societe D’encouragement declaring he was the rightful inventor of the technology), the first presentation of Edison’s machine is nothing short of legend. In December of 1877, Mr. Edison walked into the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN (magazine) office in New York City with his phonograph; he placed it in front of the editors, gave the machine a crank, and to the astonishment of everyone in the room the machine spoke for itself, “Good morning. How do you do? How do you like the phonograph?” (Feaster 2007). The rest is

The twentieth century impacted human kind in ways that those alive before the year 1900 never could have imagined. Those living during the final hundred years of the millennium saw incredible advances in science and technology that elevated our quality of life to the standard we enjoy today. Like so many other trades, the music industry benefited greatly from these new innovations. In turn, this new technology altered the sound of music: changing how it was performed, recorded, and sold. Glenn McDonald of Echo Nest tracked nine audio attributes across seventy years of music to identify trends in music that were changing. What he found was music became less organic, less bouncy, and less acoustic, while it gained accuracy, energy, sound,

Music industry these days is an open world to every one. Building own and expensive music library over the years or spending hours in record stores seeking for your favourite taste of the sound… is over. If anyone decide to hear album by for example: ’The Beatles’ or single called ‘Feeling Good’ by ‘Nina Simone’, it can be found and played within seconds. Music platforms such as YouTube, Spotify, iTunes, SoundCould etc. gives us possibilities to reach any music at any time and mostly for free. Additionally, these days making or recording music is easier than ever before and commonly available. Every Mac ships with a copy of GarageBand, software powerful enough to let anyone record an album. There is on going and endless argument, where some people say that the new world of music industry has liberated music and grown listeners with wider taste than ever, whereas on the other hand others worry that finding music is too easy and without need to save money to by an album we are becoming care less about music. In this essay I am not going through the argument, explaining what is good and bad about today’s music industry. I am going to talk about evolution of recorded sound, what is the very first factor that contributed to the changes of industry and mention eventual changes that appeared.

It’s intriguing how the music industry has significantly changed throughout the years due to the constant increase of technology. There are many different reasons to show how technology has made a huge impact whether positive or negative on this phenomenal industry. Music cultivates so much meaning to the world, and speaks volumes on the behalf of individuals when they don’t know what to physically say. That being said, whether it’s listening to music, creating it, or marketing it, technology has opened many new opportunities and ways for people to express themselves through music.

Before sound recording were possible, music was enjoyed live by watching the performers performing on their instruments in front of you. When sound recording became possible, the way we enjoy music was not limited to watching the performers anymore. By looking at the development of sound reproduction and the devices that are capable of sound playback, we are able to take a look at look on how the production and consumption of music have been affected over the years in terms of portability, affordability and how it affects the music industry.

Music and technology aid one another. In a way a person can capture music they love through technology and then the electronic companies flourish due to the sale and popularity of these electronic devices. If a person wants to listen to music they can turn on a stereo or TV, choose a CD or DVD to play, or listen to a songs downloaded in ITunes. All of these devices are proof to show how technology is used to record, play, and change the way music is heard. A look through history will show how far society has come in music alone. The development of technology has changed the way the music industry operates and the way society hears and purchases music today.