How technology has affected music makers and music consumers

There are lots of ways that we can consume music in the present day as opposed to the past where records, vinyls, 7inches, using a radio and going to shows whilst in comparison to the present day due to technology, we're allowed to access music freely via all sorts of ways that weren't available before. The internet is a massive factor which allows us to easily listen to our favourite artists thanks to Youtube, Spotify, Soundcloud and so on. Music consumers are constantly keeping uptodate when it comes to different ways in which we're able to actually listen to music. Somethings remain the same in terms of how we consume music.

The radio is still used, mainly when people are travelling in a vechile for both the past and present and back in the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s the radio would be frequently used by consumers to listen to their favourite music whilst at home, a casual listen. This is not as common in the present day thanks to technology being more advanced. If we wish to casually listen to music at home then we could play our music from speakers, which could be connected to a phone by using an aux chord or a port. Our phones, iPods and MP3/4 players have varies applications which allow us to listesn to music on a daily basis. iTunes and Windows Media Player are just a few main big names that are within our Phones and MP3/4 players, the music is storred within these programs. We could also connect our speakers to a CD player. CD's, Compact Disc, have been around since the 1980s and they are used in cars, CD players and can be used to have a digital version storred in such an app like iTunes. Computers can help us to store digital copies or downloads of music we wish to consume. There are hundreds of ways, due to technology, in which we can consume music in the present day. One way of the past which is near enough long gone is Compact Cassettes which started in the early 1960s. A lot of consumers would buy blank tapes to then record songs from the radio. You could also obtain tapes which were albums and not blank. The Sony Walkman would be frequently used to play cassettes whilst on the move.

Due to the change in technology, this has changed the quality of the music we hear. Before hand, vinyls weren't the best quality with their cracking, which some people now like due to its authenticity, but as times have changed, people are on a somewhat quest to listen to music with the best headphones/speakers and using the best audio file formats. These audio file formats relate to digitally installed/downloaded music, depending on what file format you have you can obtain different degrees of sound quality. Lossless compression will resuslt in compression that remains perefectly reconstructed therefore it will be of good sound quality. As technology has progressed through the years, the ways in which we are able to consume music resuslt in consumers listening to music that sounds clear and balanced. Our iPods, Computers, Speakers and so on allow us to hear music that is of a high standard in terms of its actual sound quality rather than the less advanced technology of yesteryear which wasn't able to produce good sound quality that we're so used to now. This result in technology changes means that musicians are now looking for the best technology to allow their musicical ideas to sound great, they want the consumers to hear music that is flawless and clear or whatever they desire depening on their preferences and style of music.

Musicians, producers and engineers have been able to keep uptodate with all the changes in technology. It's affected the way they're able to record and make an album sound. A big change was when the first full digital recordings were being released. Security by Peter Gabriel and The Nightfly by Donlad Fagen were two of the first full digital recordings to be released. Digital recording is everywhere now pretty much. Multitrack recording isn't as popular with only few artists using this method to record.

Due to an advance in technology, music that is released in the present day is massively different from the past. It sounds cleareer a lot more clear and balanced. Technology as a result has affected artists because it helps them to create their music as they wish to hear it, they use the technology to their advance.