I'm doing a bit of research on this subject and would like to see some peoples opinions. I want to centre it around the consumers view so iTunes, CD's and vinyl's becoming less popular etc. But I would also want to know about what artists think about it and if technology is making it easier for them to get noticed.
Thanks

I think you'd have a hard job saying it HASN'T!! It's so obvious and in myriad ways...

Technology makes it very easy for anyone to be visible. But, of course, correspondingly harder to get noticed!

Yes,definitely. Technology had a great influence on music during 21st century. Newer technology is replacing older ones.It is been harder for old technology to standstill in the market.

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Want Guitar Pickups? Get it from WDmusic.

When you say technology, are you considering the electric guitar, improved glues,cheaper production methods and multitrack recording ? All factors come together and definitely...I mean definitely influence music and most importantly improve access to music creation. Dave

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My head hurts!

I'm not really focusing on instruments but I am focusing on cheaper production methods like you said and about bedroom artists like how anybody (if they know how) can use software like Cubase, Pro Tools in their bedroom and put it on the internet for anybody to listen too.

Has technology influenced music in the 21st century?

Yes, it has made watching live music much more enjoyable and convincing as a lot of recorded music is so formulaic. FOr example I was listenig to a demo of some PsyTrance and it is the breeze block equivalent of music...

BumTi, BumTi, BumTi, BumTi,then the HiHats Come in TittyTittyTittyTitty, then the drop and down to just BumBumBumBum, a few pads swoooooossssshhhhhhhhhhh

Apply filters to back beat.....

BumTi, BumTi, BumTi, BumTi
BomTi, BomTi, BomTi, BomTi
BamTi, BamTi, BamTi, BamTi
BimTi, BimTi, BimTi, BimTi

Pads again and bring back HiHats

BumTi, BumTi, BumTi, BumTi
BomTi, BomTi, BomTi, BomTi
BamTi, BamTi, BamTi, BamTi
BimTi, BimTi, BimTi, BimTi
swoooooossssshhhhhhhhhhh
TittyTittyTittyTitty

And that's it! which is fine in itself, adds to the variety of music, but listening to it 3 hours live concert, I don't think so!

The open ended nature of the question begs the comment tech has always affected music be it the development of the pianoforte, the keyed flute, the saxophone, the wax cylinder (how many words have you got to write?)

On your specific topic I think one topic that shows up regularly on this forum is the huge number of people lining up to give away other people's music with the promise of virtual money at some point in the future.

Artists have the option to develop their own business model and many do but the amount of time, effort and learning curve it involves can leave little time for making actual music if there is a day job to balance.

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Ohm's Law states, "Your PA isn't as powerful as you think it is".

Quote OneWorld:

---

BumTi, BumTi, BumTi, BumTi,then the HiHats Come in TittyTittyTittyTitty, then the drop and down to just BumBumBumBum, a few pads swoooooossssshhhhhhhhhhh

Apply filters to back beat.....

BumTi, BumTi, BumTi, BumTi
BomTi, BomTi, BomTi, BomTi
BamTi, BamTi, BamTi, BamTi
BimTi, BimTi, BimTi, BimTi

Pads again and bring back HiHats

BumTi, BumTi, BumTi, BumTi
BomTi, BomTi, BomTi, BomTi
BamTi, BamTi, BamTi, BamTi
BimTi, BimTi, BimTi, BimTi
swoooooossssshhhhhhhhhhh
TittyTittyTittyTitty

---

needs more titty.

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hourglass | random thoughts | doubledotdash!? collective

Q: Has technology influenced music in the 21st century?

A: Yes.

Next..?

I'd have thought it would be more pertinent to ask when was the last century in which technology did not influence music? For example, if you are asking about how technology has influenced distribution rather than instrument design and manufacture, one of the biggies over time was arguably the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century. Prior to that troubadours held a virtual monopoly in news distribution. After that came pamphlets, newspapers etc. and the troubadours were relegated from being amongst the thought leaders of the day to mere entertainers.

Curiously in the C21st musicians and especially song writers have an opportunity to regain some market share in current affairs commentary back from newsprint, spoken radio and current affairs television. This is an idea I've been kicking around for a while. The premiss goes as follows: News media is having even worse problems as a result of the digital age than music. 24 hr rolling news on multiple channels in most countries. Instant breaking of all important new stories, so almost no opportunity for a scoop. Few newspapers able to afford to maintain a capable journalistic staff (the rest are mostly pedaling recycled pap via their own community of talking heads). Commentary rather than reporting has become the only viable, respectable option. But what is to stop anyone putting together a stable of capable, informed songwriters, musicians, engineers and editors to produce a running news commentary comprised of songs and music? A sort of musical 'Huffington Post' if you will. It could only work if the quality of the commentary, music, website and production were very high. And I believe it would also be important to take a fairly neutral stance, in the tradition of the best journalism (every song would need to be an unbiased 360 degree review of the issue being discussed - no hearts on sleeves - the business model would require buying full access to Reuters and Associated Press to the stable of song writers). But if the right people, with the right skills sets could be brought together I don't see why a vibrant website offering that kind of musical content shouldn't be capable of attracting sufficient advertising revenue, supplemented by a small user subscription, which is what keeps most news reporting funded.

Not every song writer is going to be savvy enough on current affairs to pull the task off, and there would need to be a pool of talent to ensure a sufficient supply of quality material. Like the Sunday papers, you couldn't afford to be less than a week behind the curve (so its got to be written, recorded, mixed and mastered inside a week).

In fact today's technology is such that if visual media people could also be brought into the mix and were capable of keeping up with the programme, you could even make it an online competitor to MTV etc. Call it Tubador or something equally daft!

I'd love to be able to answer this post in two years time by saying "yes, technology made it possible for musicians to regain market share in news distribution". It certainly is possible. Anybody want to discuss this insane idea with me feel free...

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Strictly project and just for fun

Quote onesecondglance:

---

Quote OneWorld:

---

BumTi, BumTi, BumTi, BumTi,then the HiHats Come in TittyTittyTittyTitty, then the drop and down to just BumBumBumBum, a few pads swoooooossssshhhhhhhhhhh

Apply filters to back beat.....

BumTi, BumTi, BumTi, BumTi
BomTi, BomTi, BomTi, BomTi
BamTi, BamTi, BamTi, BamTi
BimTi, BimTi, BimTi, BimTi

Pads again and bring back HiHats

BumTi, BumTi, BumTi, BumTi
BomTi, BomTi, BomTi, BomTi
BamTi, BamTi, BamTi, BamTi
BimTi, BimTi, BimTi, BimTi
swoooooossssshhhhhhhhhhh
TittyTittyTittyTitty

---

needs more titty.

---

And more donk

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Website / Music Lab Machines / Blog

Quote onesecondglance:

---

Quote OneWorld:

---

BumTi, BumTi, BumTi, BumTi,then the HiHats Come in TittyTittyTittyTitty, then the drop and down to just BumBumBumBum, a few pads swoooooossssshhhhhhhhhhh

Apply filters to back beat.....

BumTi, BumTi, BumTi, BumTi
BomTi, BomTi, BomTi, BomTi
BamTi, BamTi, BamTi, BamTi
BimTi, BimTi, BimTi, BimTi

Pads again and bring back HiHats

BumTi, BumTi, BumTi, BumTi
BomTi, BomTi, BomTi, BomTi
BamTi, BamTi, BamTi, BamTi
BimTi, BimTi, BimTi, BimTi
swoooooossssshhhhhhhhhhh
TittyTittyTittyTitty

---

needs more titty.

---

I've just put up a big post-it note in my studio with the wonderous words of wisdom 'More Titty' in bold capitals.

Only good can come of it. Either a number one single or a heck of a night. I am easy either way.

Quote hollowsun:

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And more donk

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You want him to put on a donk on it?

And for the OP...

If you're talking 'how has distribution of music been changed by technology' then I think you need to find a harder question TBH as asking that is about as challenging as asking 'why do the men in this thread find the statement 'more titty' very funny'?

Soundcloud means that anyone, anywhere can put up a recording of their work. This means that a complete stranger (or otherwise) on the other side of the world can hear your ideas within a couple of minutes of you finishing your work. This is a huge advance vs sending a demo tape / cd to a 'real person'.

The downside is that everyone can do it. Using Garageband on an iPad you can make a working demo in a layby (I did so recently when a tune hit my brain and I had to put it 'somewhere' before the radio output destroyed it forever). No matter how good, bad or ugly it is, you can post it. There is no quality control except your own.

So how does the commercial music industry sort the wheat from the chaff in these days when everyone can be an artist?

Now that (imo) would be a much better question as the fact that the technology has changed everything is a no-brainer. It's how people use the technology for mutual benefit that is the interesting bit.

Well I'll just troll a little bit. In the old days you needed to be able to sing to be a singer - its kind of in the job description if you think about it. Today however anyone can be a singer and the ability to sing is barely required. Show me a charting singer who can perform live without autotune. There are exceptions, but the majority of 'singers' today could not have made it into the charts 30 years ago. So that's progress for you.

Now sequencing has been around far longer than autotune, but a similar story resides there. You used to need to be able to play an instrument to make music, but now you can just point and click. One could argue that this is about the democratisation of music, or you could simply say that it has been dumbed down. Again there are exceptions, but I think the dramatic drop off in record sales is at least partly attributable to the poor quality of music being made today.

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Daniel Davis
Edinburgh Recording Studio Windmill Sound

When I told my 10 year old that I was going out last week to 'band practice' she said

'What? You're in a band?'

'Yes' said I

'What, a real band? Like JLS?'



After a long, hard look I pointed out that we actually played instruments so in that manner we were more a 'real' band than they were.

No points for guessing how far that viewpoint got me.

Funnily enough I was just reading a 1994 paper on this the other day ;
http://chandrakantha.com/articles/electronic_aids/el_aids_music_ed.html

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Music is it's own reward .

Quote DaveFry:

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Funnily enough I was just reading a 1994 paper on this the other day ;
http://chandrakantha.com/articles/electronic_aids/el_aids_music_ed.html

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Fascinating. Thanks for sharing.

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Strictly project and just for fun

Thanks for all the info guys it's going to be a big help.