Chapter 7: Audio: Music and Talk Across Media

Summary and Learning Objectives

The ability to record sounds began in 1877 with Thomas Edison’s invention of the phonograph.

Although Edison’s machine could record and play back sound, it was relatively fragile, and the foil-

covered cylinders could not be reproduced and did not stand up to repeated playing. Emile

Paley saw its potential as an advertising medium that incidentally provided entertainment. KDKA,

the first commercial radio station, went on the air in 1920, ushering in the golden age of radio, in

which radio was the dominant medium for home entertainment. Radio was also a major source of

news, offering an intimacy and immediacy that newspapers couldn’t match.

A wide range of recording formats has been used over the years, including the 78-rpm disc, the 45-

culture brought together playing music, talking over the songs, dancing, and a distinctive graffiti art

style.

Parents and other adults have expressed concern about lyrics that include profanity, references to

suicide and violence, and sentiments that are derogatory toward women.

FM has gradually replaced AM as the dominant radio band. Although FM has a shorter broadcast

range, it has much higher quality sound (higher fidelity).

1. Describe how major developments in audio technology changed how people experience music.

2. Explain how rock ’n’ roll developed out of two different music traditions.

3. Explain how radio transformed from a channel for interpersonal communication to one for mass

communication.

4. Describe how different recording formats have given rise to concerns about the purchasing of

music.

5. Discuss how long-tail audio technology is changing the radio and recording industry for everyone

Review Questions

1. How has the musical Hamilton helped bring hip-hop music to a new audience?

2. Is radio still a distinct, separate medium, or is it just part of a larger world of audio programming?

making money?

Media Literacy Exercises

NPR

Listen to 1½ hr of news on NPR (either Morning Edition or All Things Considered). After the initial 5-

min news update, time how long each story lasts. What was the major topic of each story? How did

these stories differ in terms of content and length from what you would hear (and see) on television

news? You can listen to these programs on your radio, or you can hear the Webcast at

All Things Considered

• http://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/

Notes: The biggest challenge for this assignment is that students may not have taken a serious look

at a full ½ hr evening newscast. You might consider asking students to do both for the assignment.

and should earn a grade of B. A graduate student grades my papers using the following standard:

• For a grade of B, students should provide a log of the news stories from NPR. They should

have comments that the stories are long. Students might also say that the stories are about

issues they are not familiar with. Finally, they may note that NPR does not have

commercials.

• For a grade of A, students should note the longer nature of stories, the greater depth in

reporting, and a look at longer term, less “spot news”-oriented stories.

• For a grade of C, students may note that the stories lack the pictures that go with television

as their key difference.

Radio Formats

this information, as can the FCC website. Also encourage students to go to the SALES portion of the

station’s website, which will often have target audience information for potential advertisers.

The main criterion to separate an A from a B paper is completeness on the ownership question. A

good discussion of who owns the station, whether it is local or national ownership, and where the

station’s programming comes from is the best evidence of an A paper.

Music Videos

View a current music video. In a brief (300–500 words) paper, name the video and the artist and

briefly describe what kind of music it contains. Then analyze what the lyrics of the song say and

compare them with the message of the video itself.

Notes: One of the startling things about music videos is the fact that the visuals and the lyrics are

• Essays that are short or incomplete in describing the video or lyrics should get a C or lower.

Suggested Readings

• Witt, S. (2015). How Music Got Free: The End of an Industry, the Turn of the Century, and the

Patient Zero of Piracy. New York: Penguin. Fantastic history of the development of music file

sharing. It’s not the same narrative the RIAA has been trying to sell us for years.

• Bilby, K. (1986). The General: David Sarnoff and the Rise of the Communications Industry. New

York: Harper & Row. David Sarnoff was the most powerful man ever in the broadcasting

industry. This biography looks at Sarnoff and how he created the myths that surrounded him.

• Stern, H. (1997). Private Parts. New York: Pocket Books. Stern tells his own story of his bumpy

from C-SPAN’s video archives: https://www.c-span.org/video/?63449-1/edison-inventing-

century

• Romanowski, P. George-Warren, H. & Pareles, J. (Eds.). (2001). The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of

Rock & Roll (Revised and Updated for the 21st Century), Completely revised and updated ed. New

York: Rolling Stone Press. The ultimate reference book for settling rock ‘n’ roll arguments. Just

don’t pull it out when you have work to do.

• Miller, J. (1999). Flowers in the Dustbin: The Rise of Rock and Roll, 1947–1977. New York: Simon

& Schuster. One of the best histories of rock ‘n’ roll covering the genre from its inception

through the release of Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run.

• Early, G. (1995). One Nation Under a Groove: Motown and American Culture. Hopewell, NJ: Ecco

Press.

Lecture Builders

A Former Indie Musician Looks at the Telecom Act of 1996

The following link to a guest blog post comes from Matthew Warder, who at one time was lead

guitarist for a great indie power pop band called “The Argument.” In addition to providing us with

lots of entertainment, he was also my eldest’s bass guitar teacher for several years. I’ll let Matt give

you the background on how this post came to be. He’s now a financial and equity markets analyst. I

really recommend reading this linked post, even though it is quite long. It brings the analysis of an

indie musician together with a financial analyst--the perfect combination for understanding this

looks-at-the-telecom-act-of-1996/

One of the ways music creation and marketing is changing is through the work of mash-up and

remix artists such as Girl Talk’s Gregg Gillis who builds all of his music from unlicensed samples of

Note: You do not have to answer all of these questions, but make sure you get at the big issues that

you can support with research--that is, don't just answer the ones that you can give opinion or