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English 115
4 December 2012
Music and Technology
Much as been talked about the effects of technology, whether it’s detrimental for
humans or if it actually has helped these in the their evolutionary process. The inventions
of the telephone, the television, the airplane and the Internet have contributed enormously
and have been responsible for humans’ development in many aspects. Through history,
music has been affected by humans’ technology. The creation of the phonograph, the
creation of multi-track recording and now the creation of iTunes and different online
music stores have changed the music industry and how consumers respond to it. In
today’s world, people have stopped going to now almost obsolete music stores and
instead have started buying music through online music stores; making music more
accessible and downloadable at the tip of their finger. Before, one had to buy an entire
album in order to hear one or maybe two of his favorite songs from that artist or that
band. The entire music industry has shifted from focusing its energy to an entire album to
rather single-by-single material now. It has replaced the almost forgotten CD by bit
depths and sample rates. Now more than ever, consumers demand more, faster and new
material from their favorite singer. If this happens to continue, music stores will cease to
exist, record labels will focus on independent distributing through online websites and
consumers will end artist’s careers sooner if their tastes are not met. One thing is certain,
iTunes has become more than an online store. It has become a social trend.
Now, through iTunes, consumers can download songs, books and even HD
movies. Average prices of products range from 99 cents to 20 dollars and can be
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automatically downloaded to their favorite devices. Whether it’s an iPod, iPhone or a
desktop computer one can enjoy purchases immediately instead of having the trouble of
stepping out of your door and driving all the way to the nearest retail music store to find
out they don’t have what you are looking for in stock This has affected and impacted
tremendously retail stores. The sell of cds and dvds have dropped dramatically and as a
consequence music stores such as Sam Goody have almost disappeared. Sean Anderson
has explored the effect that iTunes is having in society and the music industry itself,
More than 25 billion songs had been sold by February 2013 and 100
million books downloaded in the first year of iBooks, which was launched
in 2010… As the devices have matured, so have the software capabilities.
The iTunes Store now allows buying… HD movies… and is mostly
