From A’s and B Flats to Ones and Zeros: Injecting Technology into Today’s Music

Most millennials will never know the glory of unwrapping that CD that they have waited in line all night to buy on release day, nor will they feel the crushing defeat when the cassette player in the station wagon finally eats their favorite mix tape.  Nowadays, we can seamlessly move our favorite songs from the office to the car or from our jog to the patio with the swipe of a finger.  Musicians who once needed a pile of money and experienced engineers to record an album can now record everything on a laptop in mom’s basement. This is the digital revolution, and technology seems to be moving at an exponential rate. With recent advancements in technology along with a little help from a few key innovations, the past twenty years has changed the way we write, record, and listen to music today.

Looking back to October of 2001, a struggling company by the name of Apple decided to swing for the fences. Co-Founder and then CEO Steve Jobs announced a small personal music device called an iPod, which he believed could compete with personal CD players as a mobile device used to store and play music.  The key difference with this player is that it could take digitally compressed music files and store many more songs on the hard drive, saving consumers the hassle of carrying all their CD’s around with them.  This technology would allow the freedom to bring an entire music library on a device smaller than a pack of cigarettes.  Nobody at the time could imagine the implications that this would bring to the future of the entire tech industry.

           Fast forward to 2007, the year of the iPhone, which laid the foundation for the smart phone industry.  Data could be stored and moved quickly, thus creating a transition from personal computers to handheld devices as our primary source of absorbing and dispersing data around the world.   It became much easier to share music peer to peer through the internet, and album sales in the records were falling fast.  Even with the introduction of iTunes, the average consumer would only purchase their favorite songs by an artist rather than entire albums.  This became a primary factor in the way the consumer, and in turn, the music industry evolved to survive these changing times.

           Many musicians could no longer pay the high costs that came along with recording an album.  On the low end, recording costs for a major release could total well over $100,000. With the influx of digital technology came the ability to write and record these albums at a much lower cost. With the improved processing power of computers, a home studio could be built for around $500 and can fit within right on the desk where the computer sits.  This gives any musician the ability to record on a budget, as well as the flexibility to record intermittently when it is convenient or when inspiration strikes.  Every idea can be recorded to a computer the moment that sweet riff hits the stings; which can then be tweaked with drum sounds, horns, or even a full orchestra at the tips of your fingers.  The internet also gave the ability to share recordings or portions of recordings with friends or strangers across the world who could add their own spice to the tune in real time.  With the new additions of Apple’s Garage Band and other mobile recording applications, one could even jot down an idea wherever inspiration may arise using their smart phone.  Any musician can tell you they’ve thought of an amazing idea for a song in the car that has completely evaporated into the ethers of the universe by the time they stepped into the house to grab an instrument.  

           This wasn’t all gravy for the starving artist however.  As the well was beginning to dry up from the struggling labels, even popular artists were finding it difficult to fund their projects with little cash from album sales and downloads making it back to their pockets. Bands found that the only tangible paycheck for their profession had come through merchandising, which was primarily sold at their concerts.  More and more acts would have to tour constantly to keep the lights on, many spending as much as three-hundred days a year on the road.  Luckily, due to the nature of a musician, the became very creative with different marketing strategies beyond selling t-shirts to cashing in on the experience itself, by selling original art or VIP experiences before shows to supplement their income and get them to the next city.  This was not a sustainable lifestyle however for musicians who have families and other responsibilities at home.  The use of technology through the introduction of social media, was a cornerstone for artists attempting to make a living creating the soundtrack to our lives.

           The immediate spark of social media gave artists a medium where they could speak directly to their fans, unadulterated and unfiltered.  There was no boss to tell them what they could or could not say.  From a fan’s perspective, they could follow not only the band, but the intimate details of their lives.  For the first time ever, fans didn’t just know the band member’s names, but what they did on the weekends, when their kids took their first steps, and why they can’t stay out of target for more than 5 days in a row. There was a connection with these artists now, and fans instantly felt tied to the band in a way that had not been experienced before.  The psychology behind these connections is very powerful, and the importance at the time was grossly understated.  

Crowdsourcing, which is a way of collecting money from large groups of individuals, became an integral part of funding albums for independent artists.  Not very many people would buy an album from a stranger before a note was ever recorded.  However, these personal connections (albeit these were still one-way connections) gave fans the sense that they were part of the process, which made donating to these projects an investment.  That’s exactly what was happening, and more and more established artists could start to sever ties with the record lables and go at it alone, reaping the benefits of retaining the profit for themselves as well.

Record labels had thrived for decades on the premise that artists would need promotion as well as financial backing to succeed in the industry.  As time went on and technology advanced, artists became more independent, finding creative ways to succeed in an industry that was shifting as quickly as albums were written.  With the changing environment, record labels who had been suffering financial losses every year weren’t able to sign major talent and in turn many had to close their doors.  The biggest conundrum here was that consumers were listening to as much, if not more music on their phones and computers so there was still money to be had.  This is when new applications such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora stepped in to capitalize on these markets.  What these companies did was to create a subscription based fee structure whereas for a monthly charge of around $10, a listener would be able to stream radio and albums with some of these services, as well giving the ability to download the songs they liked.  It quickly became apparent that services like these became beneficial for both the consumer and the record labels.

           A consumer would have to pay approximately $10 to purchase an album or $.99 per song on iTunes and other online retail platforms.  By paying a subscription fee, one could access a library of millions of songs through online streaming or download as many as their computer or smartphone will allow.  This became advantageous for the listener who would like to grab an album they may not be immediately in love with, or allow them to try new bands or new styles of music that they wouldn’t have been willing to invest in prior.  These services also utilize a vast amount of data the streaming services collect based on what consumers are listening to, while creating algorithms which make it easy to recommend new artists to accurately accommodate to taste.  With the ease and flexibility of these services, popularity has increased to 90 million paid subscribers in 2016, and the record companies are finally cashing in.

           These streaming services initially looked like competition for the record labels, capitalizing on the income that was being lost from physical and digital sales.  As it turns out, 2016 has treated major record labels to the largest profits in the past decade thanks to these services.  Record labels may only receive around a half cent per listen, but with Spotify reporting a billion streams per day, revenue can quickly add up.  This, in conjunction with the reduced costs of recording and advertising, has turned a corner for record companies’ ability to profit and again find and fund new talent.      

Every generation experiences a revolution by way of technological innovation that changes the way we exist. With the creation and expansion of digital technology, we will be lucky enough to experience it first hand, as well as share it with friends, family, and strangers on the same medium that was created for us.  Music has been profoundly affected by technology in the way we write, record, and listen; however music is still the basis of how we communicate universally, an idea as primal as hunting and gathering.  So long may be the days of putting the needle to wax (albeit some of still partake for sport), but the culture of music is cyclical and as Les Guêpes said, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”  With any major shift in culture, many will struggle to adapt, but at the end of the day our artists are making money again, the record companies are making money again, and we will gladly give it to them for a little inspiration.  

Life is in Full Swing: 3/4

Music exists everywhere in or lives.  From TV and movies to walking through the grocery store.  Music is a culmination of wavelengths that interconnects us, giving the ability to communicate across social, economic, and language barriers.

Music has played a vital role in my development as a child to help me blossom into a man who can understand and work through his emotions.  See, just like every teenager, I did not have the capacity to analyze my feelings in a way that would let me navigate my thoughts and grow from it. However, through music, I quickly realized that subconsciously I may have been doing this all along. By playing, sharing, and listening to music, I could calm my frustrations, build my excitement, and project what I was feeling to direct my emotions that I was unable to express in words.  

I learned to use my instrument as a release valve for everything that was bottled up inside. When anger or excitement was overwhelming me, I would play something loud and fast to work out my anxieties. I would play a slow, calm, and quiet tune when I was sad or reflecting on a past memory.  By using my fingers and ears, I found that I could transfer my anger into excitement (even if my excitement was only that of creating something), and sadness into reflection and hope for a new beginning.  

I see certain vibrations in music, although sounding different, carry some universal parallels.  Anger and excitement are vastly different emotions, however share the same characteristics. Both can boost your adrenaline, and raise your heartbeat.   Because of these similarities, it has become a very conscious process in which I am able to transition from one to another with ease.  When I’m angry, I take that energy and turn it into motivation to become a better person moving forward.

Our lives, much like a song, keep moving forward with or without us, and in times we catch ourselves reflecting on the introduction, the song has carried on into a new progression. In life, we hold onto anger, and we stew in it, but life is moving forward too.  If we keep replaying the intro, we’ll miss the song.  

Breaking Adam

In a time where there are thousands of stories to pick from with the click of a remote, we all tend to sway towards one or two specific ideas that hit home for us personally. These ideas may take on different faces or show up in different situations, but at the end of the day are all driving home a similar value, feeling, or emotion.  The story of Adam and Eve was able to withstand generations, cultures, and languages due to a specific element that we are all faced with daily; choices.

Decisions arise at every turn, from “what’s for dinner” to “could we bring a child into a world that is so plagued with hate, greed, and anti-socialization with the thought that it may only get worse?”  This isn’t to say each decision is equal, but the idea that there is an unknown on the other end and there are consequences on either path you choose.  Because of this, society is obsessed with stories centered around choices, as this gives some sort of insight into the unknown consequences which are generally thought of as “lessons”.

In a recent popular TV series, “Breaking Bad”, Walter White’s demise (literally and figuratively) is similarly powerful for the idea that his apple is placed in front of him, over and over, and he is the only one with the power to decide his path.  The beauty of this series begins with an innocent high school professor who runs into a difficult situation where he feels the only way to get it out is through choosing the wrong path for the sake of his family. As the series progresses we see that his subsequent choices become easier to follow this path, yet the necessity to take this path is consistently diminishing.  The pinnacle of this show is the moment where Walter’s self-realization that his choice of power and money is the only gratification he needs now. The choices he originally made to save his family are the same choices he now makes to tear his family apart. It is a special moment to feel his liberation, to see him relinquish the notion that he is a good person, or ever was.

Like Adam, Walter was given a choice, a choice that would define him.  As a writer, the most impactful story hands the character the apple, and gives them solitary control of their choices.  The power of the choice in a story serves as a specific moment, immediately moving the story in the direction of the consequences of their decision, where the character will rise or fall.