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The Birth of Rock and Roll
Rock & Roll music is born in the 1950's from a fusion of electric blues, country and gospel music. Confined to the Rhythm & Blues charts early in the decade, rock crosses over to the Pop charts from 1955 onward. -
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History of Rock
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Expanding the Boundries of Rock
In the sixties rock music comes of age and dominates the popular music charts. Rock diversifies with new styles such as soul, surf, folk rock, the British Invasion, psychedelic and hard rock. -
Rock Becomes Big Business
The early seventies are marked by the deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison. Pyschedelic music declines, but morphs into hard rock, progressive rock and heavy metal. -
CD's, Synths and the rise of MTV
MTV (Music Television) is launched on 300 U.S. cable TV systems in 1981. By 1983 MTV is available on 2,000 cable systems. VH1 is launched in 1984 with a more classic rock format. The prevalence of music videos as a 24/7 marketing tool
is influential in bringing numerous new bands and music styles into the mainstream, including a resurgence in heavy
metal, the emergence of synthpop, new wave, rap and hip hop. -
The Internet and Digital Music
The internet and sound compression allow for digital distribution of music both legally and through peer to peer file sharing, threatening the dominance of major record labels. Hip hop, alternative rock, and jam bands no longer play by record label rules.