Page 1
1.
A major difference between sound recordings made by Emile Berliner and those made
by Thomas Edison was that _____.
A)
Berliner’s disks were made of wax
B)
Edison’s disks could be mass produced
C)
Berliner’s disks were flat
D)
Edison’s disks were coated with lamp black
2.
Under the compromise reached by CBS and RCA in 1953, singles were released on the
_____ format.
A)
33-1/3 rpm
B)
45 rpm
C)
78 rpm
D)
CD
3.
The advent of _____ paved the way for digital recording.
A)
wax cylinders
B)
lamp black
C)
magnetic audiotape
D)
flat disks
4.
For a time, white cover music versions of black rock-and-roll artists’ songs were more
popular and profitably, but a turning point occurred with which event?
A)
Little Richard had a hit, “Tutti Frutti,” in 1956.
B)
Ray Charles made a No. 1 hit covering a country song in 1962.
C)
The Marvellettes scored a No. 1 hit with “Please Mr. Postman” in 1961.
D)
Lauren Hill covered Frankie Valli’s old tune “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” in
1998
5.
In an attempt to get people to accept rock’s blurring of racial and other lines, Cleveland
deejay Alan Freed played _____ from the race charts and black versions of early rock
on his program.
A)
original rhythm-and-blues music
B)
rhythm-and-blues songs as they were covered by white musicians
C)
blues music from southern artists
D)
rockabilly music that combined country, southern gospel, and Mississippi delta
blues
Page 2
6.
Which of the following moral and cultural boundaries did rock and roll not blur in the
1950s?
A)
White and black
B)
Sacred and secular
C)
North and South
D)
Old and young
7.
One particularly difficult battle rock faced was the perception among mainstream adults
that the music caused _____.
A)
juvenile delinquency
B)
monopolistic control of the music industry
C)
the Cold War
D)
obscene and immoral behavior of recording artists
8.
In 1998 which of the following large corporations was not one of the major labels?
A)
BMG
B)
Sony
C)
Warner
D)
RCA
9.
Music industry revenue since 2000 is ____.
A)
increasing
B)
about the same
C)
dropping
D)
concentrated in independent labels
10.
Early inventors’ work helped make sound recording a mass medium and a product that
enterprising businesspeople could sell.
A)
True
B)
False
11.
Thomas Edison made his first sound recordings on a cylinder wrapped in foil.
A)
True
B)
False
12.
Unlike Edison’s phonograph, Emile Berliner’s gramophone played flat disks.
A)
True
B)
False
Page 3
13.
The recording industry switched from shellac to vinyl records in the early 1940s.
A)
True
B)
False
14.
One advantage of polyvinyl records over shellac records is that they were less likely to
break.
A)
True
B)
False
15.
MP3 music files can be uploaded and downloaded in a fraction of the time it takes to
exchange noncompressed music, and they use up less memory.
A)
True
B)
False
16.
Some people thought audiotape’s portability, superior sound, and recording capabilities
would mean the demise of records.
A)
True
B)
False
17.
Digital recording translates sound waves into binary on-off pulses and stores that
information in sequences of ones and zeros as numerical code.
A)
True
B)
False
18.
Music companies realize that MP3s are not going away and have embraced the format
through legal music downloads.
A)
True
B)
False
19.
In the mid-1920s, hundreds of radio stations went off the air because they could not
afford to pay for the rights to broadcast recorded music.
A)
True
B)
False
20.
The popularity of the jukebox caused record sales to drop sharply in the 1930s.
A)
True
B)
False
Page 4
21.
Competition from TV in the 1950s helped the radio and recording industries become
allies.
A)
True
B)
False
22.
Motown became the foundation of rock and roll and was influenced by African
American spirituals, ballads, and work songs from the rural South.
A)
True
B)
False
23.
By 1955, R&B hits regularly crossed over to the pop charts, but for a time the white
cover music versions were more popular and profitable.
A)
True
B)
False
24.
Cleveland deejay Alan Freed played original R&B recordings from the race charts and
black versions of early rock on his program.
A)
True
B)
False
25.
In the late 1950s, singers Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis became convinced that
they were playing “devil’s music.”
A)
True
B)
False
26.
The Rolling Stones developed a style emphasizing gritty, chord-driven, high-volume
rock, whereas the Beatles resented a more accessible, melodic, and softer sound.
A)
True
B)
False
27.
Motown Records attracted a young, white audience primarily by emphasizing romance
and a danceable beat over rebellion and political upheaval.
A)
True
B)
False
28.
Folk is considered a democratic and participatory form of music.
A)
True
B)
False
Page 5
29.
Punk rock arose in the late 1970s partly to defy the orthodoxy and commercialism of the
record business.
A)
True
B)
False
30.
Jimi Hendrix was a star of rock’s psychedelic era.
A)
True
B)
False
31.
Grunge music became a significant form of rock and roll in 1992 as a result of a
breakthrough album by Nirvana.
A)
True
B)
False
32.
Because they are smaller, independent record companies are reluctant to invest in music
that appears to be less commercial.
A)
True
B)
False
33.
Independent labels produce only about two percent of all recordings.
A)
True
B)
False
34.
The advent of advertising supported music streaming services has weakened interest in
online piracy—unauthorized online file-sharing and illegal file-swapping.
A)
True
B)
False
35.
An artist’s royalties make up only a small fraction of the sales price of a digital
download.
A)
True
B)
False
36.
Artists receive a performance royalty when one of their songs is played on the radio.
A)
True
B)
False
Page 6
37.
Songwriters and publishers receive a mechanical royalty each time a recording of their
song is sold.
A)
True
B)
False
38.
In the 1940s, magnetic _____ paved the way for major innovations, such as cassettes,
stereophonic sound, and—most significantly—digital recording.
39.
A(n) _____ recording is made by capturing the fluctuations of sound waves and stores
those signals in a record’s grooves or a tape’s continuous stream of magnetized particles.
40.
The ____ file format was developed as part of video compression standard, enabling
sound—including music—to be compressed into small, manageable digital files.
41.
Pop vocalists like _____ in the 1940s were among the first singers to win the hearts of a
large national teen audience.
42.
Before rock and roll, the music industry distinguished white “pop” charts, which
featured mostly white music, from R&B, or “_____,” charts, which featured mostly
black music.
43.
By 1955, R&B hits regularly crossed over to the pop charts, but for a time the white
_____ versions were more popular and profitable.
44.
_____ music stood in direct opposition to the polished, professional, and often less
political world of soul.
45.
Talent scouts, or _____, discover, develop, and sometimes manage performers.
46.
Briefly explain how rock and roll muddied the waters of the American cultural
landscape in the 1950s.
47.
Why did cover music figure so prominently in the development of rock and roll and the
recording industry in the 1950s?
Page 7
48.
Why did hip-hop and punk rock emerge as significant musical forms in the late 1970s
and 1980s? What do their developmental paths have in common, and how are they
different?
49.
What has been the impact of digital media on the recording industry?
Answer Key
1.
C
2.
B
3.
C
4.
B
5.
A
6.
D
7.
A
8.
D
9.
C
10.
A
11.
A
12.
A
13.
A
14.
A
15.
A
16.
A
17.
A
18.
A
19.
A
20.
B
21.
A
22.
B
23.
A
24.
A
25.
A
26.
A
27.
A
28.
A
29.
A
30.
A
31.
A
32.
B
33.
B
34.
A
35.
A
36.
A
37.
A
38.
audiotape
39.
analog
40.
MP3
41.
Frank Sinatra
42.
race
43.
cover music
44.
Hip-hop
Page 9
45.
A&R agents
46.
47.
48.
49.