A study of the technology used in music would date back to the very first instrument used, a bone flute around 40,000 years old found in the hills of Slovenia. However, the technology that supports the industry as we know it today dates back to the turn of the 20th century.

Music today forms an integral part of our society. It connects people, brings them together, and reflects the good parts of our lives. They are often potent methods of expressing emotion, and music often makes up an important part of our lives. Now, in 2020, as we stand at the threshold of another technological revolution in the Music Industry, it seems like a good time to look back at the 10 technologies that have been crucial in evolving the Industry to the form that it is in

The Phonograph

The Phonograph marked an important step towards modern music. The first phonograph developed by Thomas Edison in 1877, made recorded music possible by etching grooves into tin foil discs, that when played in rotation under a metal needle, created soundwaves that were amplified through a horn-shaped metal speaker. The first piece of music ever recorded and played on the newfangled device was a choral piece by German baroque composer Handel.

This technology remained popular in many different forms for the next 125 years, through vinyl and compact discs alike. Many new innovations followed the Phonographic turntable, and some did leave their mark, but the Phonograph’s importance cannot be understated, as it played a foundational role and established the basis of development for a whole era of music.

Radio

Invented at the turn of the 20th century, Radio proved to be a revolutionary technology that fundamentally changed communication across the world. It was first used to communicate in Morse Code for maritime communications and was extensively used in the First and Second World Wars in similar applications.

However, the concept of radio as a medium of mass communication and music hit the airwaves in 1920, when it immediately became a national sensation in the US. In 1920, there were two radio stations in the US. By the next year, there were over 600.

The biggest impact of music radio, however, was that it brought local artists to the big stage. It opened them up to large audiences and allowed every musician to showcase their skill and talent in front of a country-wide audience, and in the process, laid the foundation for the music industry as we know it today. Even today, radio continues to be one of the most popular means of mass communication and music has played a central role in that.

Television

John Logie Baird. The savior of so many millennials, and in the current scenario, well almost the entire Human Race. Jokes apart, Television has been, and I know you will all agree with me when I say this, one of the most important innovations the world has seen as far as visual media is concerned. It’s modern-day impact aside, TV was booming in the 1950s.

It was during this time that shows such as American Bandstand brought music into everyone’s home, and performers became household names. This invigorated the youth culture and drove the still nascent Music Industry to new heights. This became the point where the pillars of the Music Industry, funding, recording, marketing, and distribution became enshrined.

This culture is present in society even today, with shows such American Idol, Indian Idol, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa in India, The Voice and to some extent the Got Talent franchise (India’s Got Talent, Britain’s Got Talent, America’s Got Talent, etc.) still bringing the youth to the National and Global stage, offering exposure and providing them with a chance to showcase their talents. TV, of course, plays a massive role in this process.

As this technology matured, it saw mini revolutions of its own, the first being in the 1980s, with MTV and music videos entering the market, and more recently with other video streaming portals like YouTube increasing the reach of music exponentially.

Electric Instruments

Electric instruments have become so mainstream today that it is hard to imagine a music industry without them. However, when the electric guitar was first invented by Beauchamp and Rickenbacker in 1931, it was purely in the domain of the then Jazz artists and Rock and Roll artists. However, as the decades rolled on, the electric guitar bled its way into several different genres of music and is now used by almost every band on the planet.

The enlightened, brash and shrill sound of the guitar has become one of the integral elements of popular music, from The Beatles to Nirvana, all mastering the use of the Electric Guitar, so much so, that it has become synonymous with certain genres of music.

Nowadays, electric guitars find an important place in the production of electronic music as well, with modern artists such as Illenium, Said The Sky and Dabin, all using the instrument.

Synthesizers

In the modern-day Music scene, electronic music has a major role. However, if you trace it back to the early days of digital music, it simply bleeps and bloops and all sorts of obscure computer nerdism, and seemed to have come straight out of Tron. It did have its popularity back then too, as the 8-bit and 32-bit chiptune sounds found their way into the gaming industry, but that’s a post for another time.

Synthesizers form the backbone of electronic music. Popularized in the 1960s by the likes of The Beatles’ Abbey Road, synths created a whole new soundscape available to musicians and performers. Devices like drum machines and turntables and scores of fast-evolving synth keyboards opened doors for new kinds of music to be made, from techno to hip-hop, and the ability to access a studio’s worth of capability with a few pieces of equipment opened the door for many people to express themselves.

Modern-day synthesizers are nothing less than powerhouses in the music industry, and they continue to shape the industry in the most fundamental of ways.

In part two, I'll be continuing this journey by venturing into the digital era and writing about technologies such as mp3, the iPod and the Walkman which changed the way the music industry works in the 21st Century.

As is standard with these posts, all of what I write here is my viewpoint and I welcome everyone who reads these articles to go ahead and write their views on it in the comments section of the respective Instagram post on the account linked on the page. Music is something that we all perceive differently, and thus I look forward to reading your views on the article.