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Period: to
20th Century
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Dancing becomes popular
This was a huge movement for music. People really started to like dancing and restaraunts had to start adding dance floors. People were now getting paid to write songs. Also a mixture of blues and ragtime, called Jazz, was created. -
Jazz Music is very popular
By the mid-1920s, jazz was being played in dance halls and roadhouses and speakeasies all over the country. Early jazz influences found their first mainstream expression in the music used by marching bands and dance bands of the day, which was the main form of popular concert music in the early twentieth century. In its early years jazz was considered the devils music by diverse segments of the American public. -
The Julliard School opens in New York
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Electric guitars debut
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WW2
Music in the 1940s was mainly built around the jazz and big band styles that were popular during the day. Artists like Rosemary Clooney, Count Basie, and Artie Shaw helped to define the musical era with their unique brand of entertaining crowds through their music. This was also the era of World War II, and many musical acts strived to reflect the pain that the country was going through. -
The term "Rock 'n' Roll" was first used by disc jockey Alan Feed in order to introduce the Rhythm and Blues (R&B) style to white audiences
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Elvis Presley emerges as one of the world's first rock stars
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Billboard debuts the first Hot 100 Chart with Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool" as the first No. 1 record
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The Grateful Dead emerge as the counterculture group of the 1960s
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Folk musician Bob Dylan becomes popular with the social protest groups
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Elvis Presley dies at Graceland
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Sony introduced the Walkman - first portable stereo
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MTV was created
MTV, or Music Television, may have been the single most influential entity in music industry during the 1980s . Premiering in 1981, MTV gave bands and artists greater exposure for their music in a greater and more widely popular medium.New Wave and Synthpop was another genre of music that came about during this era. -
Michael Jackson's Thriller sells 25 million copies becoming the biggest-selling album in history
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the term "World Music" is coined to represent African, Latin American and other genres of international music
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The grunge movement takes off with the Seattle band Nirvana leading the way
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CDs surpass cassette tapes in sales
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The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens
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Janet Jackson becomes the highest paid musician in history when she signs an $80-million deal with Virgin Records
