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The Radio
Although the radio was invented in 1895 one could argue that the 1920's was the true birth for music radio. Especially in America duering the 'Roaring Twenties' the radio tripled in sales from the previous decade, people could freely listen to music in the comfort of their own homes. Now people didn't have to see a musician to hear it. The negative was choice though, you had to listen to whatever the radio stations put on and at that there were about 4 stations. -
Tape cartridge
In 1958, RCA would change the future of home music consumption by introducing the RCA tape cartridge. This was so mushc easier to handle and there was a lot more choice in what music to play in the household. -
8- Track tape
An improved version of the tape; by the late 1960's all of Ford's cars offered an available 8-track player as an upgrade. This rivalled the vinyl which was more commonly used to listen to music at that time. -
The compact disc
The 1980's marked the comercially available compact disc; this was so much easier for digital recording and eventually knocked the tapes out of production. Once again making music consumption much more portable now and the listening of a much higher sound quality. -
The Internet
The first protoypes were being made in the 1960's but it wasn't comercially available until the laye 80's/90's. The Internet grew publicity rapidly in the 1990's to the 2000's. However It wasn't until the early noughties where more sophisticated GUI and Operating Systems came in that changed the way music was consumed (e.g. Youtube, Vevo, musical news websites etc.). Now when music is heard the initial response is to use the World Wide Web to find it and to listen to more before purchasing it. -
The MP3 player
This invention allowed free and portable music consumption. Now owners of the mp3 could download music of their own choice and listen to it wherever they want thanks to a chargable battery (Without other people hearing it) . This was also famed in 2001 when Apple brought out their first line of iPod's; although improvements have been made (Increased battery life, can hold more songs, auxillary cables to link to stereos.) we still consume our music this way while travelling/ on the go. -
The trend of physical copies of music
Musical consumption chart
It is clear just how rapid the decline of physical means for owning music has beome; and the rate of digitalisation and it's popularity just shy of a decade. -
Fansites
Taking advantage of the Internet has grown music consumption to more than just that; through unofficial websites and information pages not only can you just listen to artists music anymore, you can read about their life, their interests and the brand surrounding them. Furthermore this has introduced 'superfans'- Fans who become obsessed with the artist; about their whole life and not just about the music. For instance a One Direction Blog about where to buy the clothes they have worn. -
YouTube
YouTube, the biggest social netowrking platform for video sharing essentially sparked the reason for music videos. Due to the widespread popularity of the site and how artists can upload their videos to millions without paying anything (Actually earning money in doing so.) has kept the music videos alive. It is all about the whole performance now of 'watching the music' online, something the radio was never able to capture. -
Official websites
Adding onto the fansites premise of how music consumption is more than just listening to music now. With help of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter; fans can see what they are getting upro, maybe post sinppets of unreleased songs. There has also been a rise in e-Comemrce websites, so buying the artists official merchandise; publicly stating what music you like etc. We need more and more consumption it seems as time goes on; just listening to songs won't suffice anymore. -
Online buying and apps- Present Day
When iTune's launched in 2001 offering almost every song to be purchased with a simple click and all being stored in an online storage space. (Later formed as the 'cloud.) Furthermore more recent apps that have really taken off lately (Around 2012) such as 'Spotify, Shazam and Soundhound' that not only let you listen and buy music, but can also recognise songs that you hear through the devices microphone.This was the last big revolutionary step affecting music consumption in present day.
