2. Sound Recording and Popular Music
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ 2013 hit “Thrift Shop” was the first number 1 hit from
an independent group since 1994—they did not have a recording contract
3. The Medium of Sound Recording
The music that helps shape our identities and comforts us during the transition
from childhood to adulthood resonates throughout our lives
Throughout history, popular music has been banned by parents, school officials,
and even governments under the guise of protecting young people
5. The Development of Sound Recording
Long before the internet, the first major media convergence involved the
relationship between the sound recording and radio industries
6. From Cylinders to Disks: Sound Recording
Becomes a Mass Medium
In the 1850s, French printer Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville used a hog’s hair
bristle to make different grooves on a recording cylinder. Different sounds made
different patterns in the lamp black, but he didn’t know how to play back what he
had recorded
In 1877, Thomas Edison had success playing back sound. He recorded his own
voice using a needle to press sound waves onto tinfoil wrapped around a metal
cylinder. Edison repositioned the needle to retrace the grooves in the foil. The
machine he used became known as the phonograph (meaning “sound” and
“writing”)
7. From Cylinders to Disks: Sound Recording
Becomes a Mass Medium
Thomas Edison was also able to envision the practical uses of his inventions and
ways to market them. Edison patented his phonograph in 1878 as a kind of
answering machine, or “telephone repeater”
In 1887, Chichester Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter improved on the phonograph
by creating more durable wax cylinders for playback. Both of these inventions
only had marginal success as voice-recording machines
Emile Berliner develops flat, round discs (records) that play on a turntable, which
he patented as the gramophone in 1887. He also developed a way to mass
produce records and stamp them with labels
8. From Cylinders to Disks: Sound Recording
Becomes a Mass Medium
By the first decade of the 20th century, record-playing phonographs were widely
available for home use
The appeal of recorded music was limited at first because of sound quality. By the
1930s (partly because of radio, partly because of the Depression) record and
phonograph sales were dropping dramatically
In the early 1940s, the record industry turned to manufacturing polyvinyl plastic
records, which were much more durable and less noisy, paving the way for more
consumers to desire recorded music
In 1953, CBS and RCA compromise on competing formats: LP becomes the
standard for albums, 45 for singles, and record players were designed to
accommodate both
9. From Phonographs to CDs: Analog Goes
Digital
Magnetic tape sound recording (audiotape) was developed in 1929 and refined in
the 1930s. By WWII, audiotape found its place in music recording
Audiotape’s lightweight magnetized strands made editing and multi-track mixing
possible. Instruments and vocals could be recorded separately and mixed into a
master recording
Large reel-to-reel audiotape later gave way to cassettes, which people could dub
at home. This also led to portable cassette players (Walkman)
10. From Phonographs to CDs: Analog Goes
Digital
Stereo permitted the recording of two separate channels, or tracks, of sound.
Using audiotape, engineers could record many tracks, which were mixed down
into two stereo tracks. Stereo creates a more natural distribution of sound
Thomas Stockham records audio onto computer equipment in the 1970s
11. From Phonographs to CDs: Analog Goes
Digital
Analog recording: Captures the fluctuations of sound waves and stores those
signals in a record’s grooves or a tape’s magnetized particles
Digital recording: Translates sound waves into binary information stored as a
numerical code
Digital recording leads to compact discs (CDs) in the 1980s. By 1987, CDs were
selling twice as well as records. By 2000, CDs rendered records and cassettes
obsolete
By the time CDs were dominant, a new format that would change music recording
and distribution dramatically was already on the horizon……
12. Convergence: Sound Recording in the
Internet Age
Music, perhaps more so than any other mass medium, is bound up in the social
fabric of our lives
Since the introduction of the tape recorder and the heyday of homemade
mixtapes, music has been something that we have shared eagerly with friends
The internet quickly became a hub for sharing music
This convergence began to unravel the music industry in the 2000s
13. MP3s and File Sharing
MP3: A file format that enables digital recordings to be compressed into smaller,
more manageable files
As the internet grew in popularity, MP3s became popular as they could be
uploaded and downloaded in a short amount of time
By 1999, music files were widely available on the internet—both legally and
illegally
Music companies fought the proliferation of the MP3 format with an array of
lawsuits, but the popularity of the MP3 continued to increase
14. MP3s and File Sharing
In 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the music industry and against
Napster, declaring free music file-swapping illegal and in violation of music
copyrights held by recording labels and artists
The music industry was able to shut down Napster, but other peer-to-peer
systems once again enabled online free music file-sharing
The music industry fought illegal file sharing with lawsuits (many times against
individuals) and enlisted ISPs (Comcast, Time Warner etc.) to help identify illegal
file-sharers
The music industry adapted with services like iTunes, which has sold 25 billion
songs. In 2013, global digital download sales fell for the first time, after the arrival
of the next big digital format……..
15. The Next Big Thing: Streaming Music
We are shifting from ownership of music to access to music
The access model has been driven by streaming services such as Spotify
Users have an ad-supported free account or pay for a subscription, and have
access to play millions of songs from the internet
In early 2014, Apple acquired the Beats Music streaming service for $3 billion.
Apple gained a premium headphone brand as well as a streaming service to
complement iTunes
16. The Rocky Relationship between Records
and Radio
In 1924, record sales dropped to only half of what they had been the year before.
Why? Because radio had arrived, providing free entertainment over the airwaves,
independent of the recording industry
In 1925, ASCAP (Amercan Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers)
established music rights for radio, charging stations between $250 and $2500 a
week to play recorded music
The recording and radio industries began to cooperate after TV came along in the
1950s and stole radio’s variety shows, dramas, and comedies, as well as ad
revenue and audiences
Rock music in the 1950s provided radio with much needed new content just when
it seemed like it was becoming obsolete
17. The Rocky Relationship between Records
and Radio
After the digital turn, the mutually beneficial relationship between the recording
industry and radio began to deteriorate
Now, radio groups have begun to forge agreements with Big Machine (Taylor
Swift) and other music labels, paying royalties for on-air play while getting
reduced rates for streaming music
19. U.S. Popular Music and the Formation of
Rock
Pop music: Music that appeals to either a wide cross section of the public or to
sizable subdivisions within the larger public based on age, region, or ethnic
background
U.S. pop music today encompasses styles as diverse as blues, country, Tejano,
salsa, jazz, rock, reggae, punk, hip-hop, and dance
The word “pop” has also been used to distinguish popular music from classical
music, which is written primarily for ballet, opera, ensemble, or symphony
20. The Rise of Pop Music
Late 1880s, Tin Pan Alley in New York, artists start selling sheet music—John Philip
Sousa and Scott Joplin
At the turn of the 20th century, the ability to mass-produce sheet music for a
growing middle class allowed for popular songs to move from being a novelty to
being a major business
With the emergence of the phonograph, song publishers also discovered that
recorded tunes boosted interest in and sales of sheet music
21. The Rise of Pop Music
As sheet music grew in popularity, jazz developed in New Orleans
Jazz absorbed and integrated a diverse body of musical styles, including African
rhythms, blues, and gospel
The first pop vocalists of the 20th century were products of the vaudeville circuit.
Crooners like Bing Crosby and Rudy Vallée established themselves as singers of
pop standards
Frank Sinatra arrived in the 1940s, and his romantic ballads foreshadowed the teen
love songs of rock-and-roll’s early years
22. Rock and Roll is Here to Stay
As with the term “jazz,” “rock and roll” was a blues slang term for sex, lending it instant
controversy
Early rock and roll was considered the first “integrationist music,” merging the black
sounds of rhythm and blues, gospel, with the white influences of country, folk, and pop
vocals
Only a few musical forms have ever sprung from such diverse influences, and no new
sound has ever had such an impact on culture
Robert Johnson ranks among the most influential and innovative
American guitarists, played Mississippi delta blues and influenced early rock and roll
23. Rock and Roll is Here to Stay
Blues: The foundation of rock and roll, influenced by African-American spirituals,
ballads, and work songs from the rural south
Rhythm and blues: Featured “huge rhythm units smashing away behind screaming
blues singers”
Although it was banned on some stations, by 1953 R&B continued to gain airtime
Trade magazines tracked R&B sales on “race” charts, which were kept separate
from white record sales tracked on “pop” charts
24. Rock Muddies the Waters
In the 1950s, legal integration accompanied a cultural shift, and the music
industry’s pop charts blurred
Black artists like Chuck Berry performed country songs
Ray Charles even played in an otherwise all-white country band
White DJ Alan Freed played black music for his audiences
White artists crossed over and played R&B music
25. High and Low Culture
In 1946, Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven” merged rock and roll (low culture)
with high culture (Beethoven, Tchaikovsky), forever blurring the traditional
boundaries between these cultural forms
Rock and rollers also challenged cultural norms with their behavior
26. Masculinity and Femininity
Rock and roll was also the first popular music genre to overtly confuse issues of
sexual identity and orientation
Early rock and roll attracted mainly male performers, but Mick Jagger claims the
most intriguing thing about Elvis was his androgynous appearance
Little Richard was the first “rock and roll drag queen,” blurring the lines between
masculinity and femininity
He chose this identity to remain “harmless” and not become an overt sex symbol
to white audiences
27. The Country and the City
Rockabilly: A combination of country music, southern gospel, and Mississippi delta
blues
A blurring takes place between country music and urban music
Although rock lyrics in the 1950s were not especially provocative or political,
record sales and crossover appeal of the music represented an enormous threat to
long-standing racial and class boundaries
28. The North and the South
Rock and roll combined northern and southern influences
Many people had migrated north after the Civil War and during the early 20th century.
This led southern cultural flavor to appear in the North
Audiences in the North had absorbed blues music as their own, eliminating the
understanding of blues as a southern style
Rural southern artists—such as Elvis and Buddy Holly—were fascinated by black urban
styles (much like today)
The key to record sales and the spread of rock and roll (according to famed record
producer Sam Phillips) was to find a white man who sounded black
“White rockabillies like Elvis took poor white southern mannerisms of speech and
behavior deeper into mainstream culture than they had ever been taken”
29. The Sacred and the Secular
Although mainstream adults in the 1950s complained that rock and roll offended
God, many early rock figures had close ties to religion
Jerry Lee Lewis attended a Bible institute in Texas
Ray Charles converted an old gospel tune into “I Got a Woman”
Little Richard and JLL were both sons of southern preachers, and both became
convinced they were playing the “devil’s music”
By 1959, Little Richard left music to become a preacher
The lines have continued to blur, with many churches using rock and roll to appeal
to “the youths” and some Christian-themed rock groups recording music like
heavy metal
30. Battles in Rock and Roll
Getting rock and roll accepted by the masses was tricky because of the blurring of
racial lines
Cleveland DJ Alan Freed (who coined the phrase rock and roll) played original
black recordings from the “race charts” on his station
Philadelphia DJ Dick Clark believed that making black music acceptable to white
audiences required cover versions of black songs by white artists
Black artists found that their music was often undermined by white cover versions
31. White Cover Music Undermines Black
Artists
By the 1960s, black and white artists routinely recorded and performed one
another’s original tunes
Black R&B artists working for small record labels saw many of their popular songs
covered by white artists working for major labels
Little Richard wrote “Long Tall Sally” in a way that he thought white artists would
not be able to replicate, he was mostly right (his version was more successful)
In 1962, Ray Charles covers “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” a white country song. This
is the first time a black artist covering a white song became a number 1 pop hit
32. Payola Scandals Tarnish Rock and Roll
Payola: Record promoters paying DJs or radio programmers to play particular
songs
Although it was considered bribery, it was not illegal
Congressional hearings followed, partly to address bad business practices, partly
to try and blame DJs and radio for rock and roll’s supposedly negative impact on
teens by portraying the music industry as corrupt
Many DJ’s careers ended after they were found to accept bribes
Congress eventually passed a law prescribing a $10,000 fine and/or a year in jail
for each violation
33. Fears of Corruption Lead to Censorship
Since it’s beginning, the perception was that rock and roll was to blame for juvenile
delinquency, which was statistically on the rise in the 1950s
Looking for an easy culprit rather than considering factors such as neglect, the rising
consumer culture, or the growing youth population, music was blamed
By late 1959, many rock and roll figures had been “tamed.” JLL was exiled as “white
trash” for marrying his 13 year old cousin, Elvis was drafted into the army, Chuck Berry
was jailed for gun possession and transporting minors across state lines, Little Richard
left to be a preacher and sing gospel music
1959 Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper all died in a plane crash—
memorialized in “American Pie” as “the day the music died”
35. A Changing Industry: Reformations in
Popular Music
As the 1960s began, rock and roll was tamer and “safer,” but it was also beginning
to branch out
The success of all-female groups challenged the male-dominated world of early
rock and roll
Rock and roll and other popular music styles went through cultural reformations
that significantly changed the music industry, including the “British Invasion,” the
development of soul and Motown, the political impact of folk-rock, the
experimentalism of psychedelic music, the rejection of music’s mainstream by
punk, grunge, and alternative artists, the reassertion of black urban style in hip-
hop, and the transformation of music distribution
36. The British Are Coming!
In the late 1950s, the young Rolling Stones listened to Robert Johnson and Muddy
Waters, and the young Beatles tried to imitate Chuck Berry and Little Richard
American artists regularly had hits in Great Britain, but no British artist had had an
American top 10 hit
This all changed in 1964
37. The British are Coming!
With the British Invasion, “rock and roll” unofficially became “rock”
Popular music went in two very different directions:
1. The Rolling Stones influenced generations of musicians emphasizing gritty, chord-
driven, high-volume rock
2. The Beatles influenced countless artists interested in a more accessible, melodic,
softer sound in genres such as pop-rock, power pop, new wave, and alternative
rock
The British Invasion showed the recording industry how older American musical
forms, especially blues and R&B, could be sold around the world
38. Motor City Music: Detroit Gives America
Soul
Black musicians countered the British invaders with powerful vocal performances
Mixing gospel and blues with emotion and lyrics drawn from the American black
experience, soul contrasted sharply with the emphasis on loud, fast instrumentals
and lighter lyrics that characterized rock music
Motown Records, started in 1959 by Berry Gordy, had a string of hits that rivaled
the British Invasion
39. Folk and Psychedelic Music Reflect the
Times
Popular music has always been a product of its time
The social upheavals of the Civil Rights movement, the women’s movement, the
environmental movement, and the Vietnam War naturally brought social concerns
into the music of the 1960s and 1970s
By the late 1960s, the Beatles had transformed themselves from a relatively
lightweight pop band to one that spoke for the social and political concerns of
their generation, and many other groups followed their trajectory
40. Folk Inspires Protest
The musical genre that most clearly responded to the political happenings of the
time was folk music
Folk music: Songs performed by untrained musicians and passed down mainly
through oral traditions
Bob Dylan was the most influential folk artist; influenced by the blues and rock,
Dylan’s change inspired the formation of folk-rock artists
41. Rock Turns Psychedelic
The links between alcohol, drugs, and music became much more public in the late
1960s and early 1970s, when authorities busted members of the Rolling Stones
and the Beatles
The psychedelic era saw the use of LSD during musical performances
Musicians believed artistic expression could be amplified through mind-altering
drugs
A negative light was cast on drug use after the Charles Manson murders, and a
number of the movement’s greatest stars died from drug overdose in rapid
succession
42. Punk, Grunge, and Alternative Respond to
Mainstream Rock
By the 1970s, rock music was increasingly viewed as just another part of
mainstream consumer culture
Rock music was packaged and sold to audiences—primarily white, middle-class
teens
Some artists (Springsteen, Elton John, David Bowie) kept the rock-dream alive, but
“faceless” supergroups dominated the airwaves (Boston, Styx)
Rock could only be defined by what it wasn’t: Disco
43. Punk Revives Rock’s Rebelliousness
Punk attempted to return to the basics of rock and roll: simple chord structures,
catchy melodies, and politically or socially challenging lyrics
The punk movement took root in the small dive bar CBGB in NYC around bands
such as the Ramones and the Talking Heads
Punk was not a commercial success in the U.S., where it was shunned by radio,
however it did spread to the U.K.
Punk did introduce frontwomen like Joan Jett and Debbie Harry
44. Grunge and Alternative Reinterpret Rock
In the 1990s, grunge took the spirit of punk and updated it
Nirvana was the first grunge bank to break through, leading the way for bands like
Green Day and Pearl Jam
A key dilemma for successful alternative performers is that their popularity results
in commercial success, ironically a situation their music criticizes
45. Hip-Hop Redraws Musical Lines
With the growing segregation of radio formats and the dominance of mainstream
rock by white male performers, the place of black artists in the rock world would
be diminished from the late 1970s onward
Hip-hop: Urban culture that includes rapping, cutting (sampling), breakdancing,
street clothing, poetry slams, and graffiti art
In the same way that punk opposed commercial rock, hip-hop music stood in
direct opposition to the polished, professional, and less political world of soul
46. Hip-Hop Redraws Musical Lines
The music industry initially saw hip-hop as a novelty
However, by 1985, hip-hop had exploded as a popular genre with the commercial
success of artists like Run-DMC and LL Cool J
On one hand, rap made a forum in which performers debated issues of gender,
class, sexuality, violence and drugs. On the other hand, hip-hop (like punk) draws
criticism for lyrics that degrade women, espouse homophobia, and advocate
violence
Gangster rap drew attention in 1996 with the death of Tupac Shakur (then 1997,
Notorious B.I.G.)
P. Diddy leads gangster rap to a more danceable hip-hop that combined rapping
and singing with musical elements of rock and soul
47. The Reemergence of Pop
After waves of punk, grunge, alternative, and hip-hop, the decline of top 40 radio,
and the demise of MTV’s TRL, it seemed as though pop music and the era of big
pop stars was waning
However, the era of the digital download has made singles more popular than
albums, which has helped the reemergence of pop
49. The Business of Sound Recording
The relationship between music’s business and artistic elements is often an uneasy
one
The lyrics of hip-hop or alternative rock often question the value of commercial
music
However, the business needs artists who are provocative, original, and appealing
to the public
Both sides need to make a lot of money from the relationship
50. Music Labels Influence the Industry
File-sharing peaked in 2005 and has been declining ever since
U.S. music sales were about $7 billion in 2013
The U.S. market accounts for about 1/3 of the global market
Oligopoly: A business situation in which a few firms control most of an industry’s
production and distribution resources
51. Fewer Major Labels and Falling Market
Share
From the 1950s through 1980s, the music industry consisted of a large number of
competing major labels, along with numerous independent labels
Over the years, large labels have swallowed up or purchased smaller labels. By
2012, only three major labels remained: Universal Music Group, Sony Music
Entertainment, and Warner Music Group
These 3 companies control about 65 percent of the music market
However, independent labels are on the rise
52. The Indies Grow with Digital Music
With the advent of digital downloads, indie music labels became much more
successful because the music became more accessible
Indie (independent) labels only require a few people to operate them
These labels have produced some of the best-selling artists in recent years,
including Big Machine Records (Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts), XL Recordings (Adele),
and Cash Money Records (Drake, Nicki Minaj)
53. Making, Selling, and Profiting from Music
Like most mass media, the music business is divided into several areas, each
working in a different capacity
1. Making the music
2. Selling the music
3. Dividing the profits
54. Making the Music
A&R agents: Artist and repertoire, the talent scouts of the music business, who
discover, develop, and sometimes manage artists
Scan online music sites, listen to demos, and decide who to sign and which songs
to record
A&R executives naturally look for artists they think will sell well, and are often
forced to avoid artists with limited commercial possibilities or to tailor artists to
make them viable for the recording studio
55. Selling the Music
These days, general retail outlets (Wal-Mart, Target) offer considerably less variety
in selling CDs. Why?
CD sales are now only about 35 percent of the market
Digital sales have grown to capture almost two-thirds of the market
The advent of advertising-supported streaming services has satisfied consumer
demand for free music, and weakened interest in piracy and illegal file-swapping
56. Dividing the Profits
If a CD costs $18, the retail profit is around $5, the record company gets around
$10, and the artist gets around $2
For a digital download (iTunes) that costs $1.29, Apple gets about $0.40, the
songwriter gets about $0.09, record company gets around $0.60, artists might get
around $0.20.
Spotify reports that each stream is worth about $0.007 (seven-tenths of one cent).
Spotify says that 70 percent of revenue goes to the label, performers, and
songwriters, and keeps about 30 percent for itself
Example: contemporary cellist Zoe Keating (an independent recording artist) says
she earned just $808 for 201,412 Spotify streams
57. Dividing the Profits
Internet radio: About $0.002 (two-tenths of a cent) per play, per listener. 50
percent goes to the music label, 45 percent to the featured artists, and 5 percent
to nonfeatured artists
YouTube and Vevo: $1 per thousand video plays (87 million views means about
$87,000 in revenue). In 2012, it was decided that publishers would be paid 15
percent of advertising revenues generated by music videos licensed for use on
YouTube and Vevo
58. Alternative Voices
A vast network of independent labels, distributors, stores, publications, and
internet sites devoted to music outside of the major label system has existed since
the early days of rock and roll
Independent labels have become even more viable by using the internet as a low-
cost distribution and promotional outlet
Artists at major labels need to sell 500,000 albums to make a profit. Independent
artists can recoup costs and make a profit after about 25,000 copies
Some artists shun labels altogether and use the internet to go straight to their
fans
59. Sound Recording, Free Expression and
Democracy
The battle over music’s controversial aspects speaks to the heart of democratic
expression
Like other art forms, music has a history of reproducing old stereotypes: limiting
women’s access as performers, fostering racist or homophobic attitudes, and
celebrating violence and misogyny
Music often reflects the personal or political anxieties of a society
It breaks down artificial or hurtful barriers better than many government programs
do
“Popular music always speaks, among other things, of dreams—which change with
the times”
