The earliest recordings of music began with the invention of the recording machine by Thomas Edison in 1877 and the recording of live music. In the 1940s, Les Paul developed the “multi-tracking” recording method in which additional tracks were added to an original basic track to combine different instruments (Rayner, Wall, & Kruger, 2001).

Evolution of different formats

This coincided with shifts in different formats from the early 78rpm disc to the vinyl 45rpm and 33rpm discs to cassette/video tapes to CDs to DVDs to downloading of music using MP3 players and burning of one’s own CDs. Moreover, the rise of music videos created a new form that served to promote music.

With each shift in formats, an essential feature is the quality of sound, which has been improving through uses of new technologies. For ways to understand variations and improvements in sound quality, go to the sound quality site.

Music Search [information about all types of music]

MusicSearch.com

Music downloads

mp3.com
audiogalaxy.com
ARTISTdirect.com

Rolling Stone

songs from top 100 current albums [Fall, 2002]

Information about artists/bands

All Music Guide

Webquest

Guide to Music on the Web

A Teen's Personal Guide to Music on the Web

For further reading:

Moore, A. (Ed.) (2003). Analyzing popular music. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Vinet, M. (2004). Evolution of modern popular music: A history of blues, jazz, country, R&B, rock and rap. New York: Wadem.

Module 9: Word document

The Value of Studying Popular Music

Purposes for Studying Popular Music as Media

Development of Recorded Popular Music

Different Music Genres

Rock

Jazz

Soul/Motown

Blues

Hip Hop/Rap

Punk

Folk

Country

Cajun/Zydeco

The Music of Protest

Music Videos

Film Music

The Economics of the Popular Music Industry

Studying Radio

Teaching Activity

References