Before music recording was possible, People had very little say over what music they could hear. Being a musician was not accessible for everyone and was only possible for a very small group of people. If people had ideas, no matter how good they were, they were unable to pursue them. During the Classical Period, the middle classes participated more in music through the expanded reach of public festivals, symphony performances, and private chamber concerts. Only having live music limited the amount of people who could access it, making the beautiful symphony’s and performances that people had made useless. The evidence shows how eager people were to have more music in their lives. The gap in the market allowed Thomas Edison to make the ground-breaking invention of the phonograph. By 1915 over £60 million had been spent on phonographs and records.
People were getting fed up of not knowing what the record was going to sound like before they bought it. This brought along the idea of genres. Different hits led to the naming of new genres of music, even if that musical type pre-existed recording. For example, a 1920 mega-hit recording by Mamie Smith of “Crazy Blues” established the “Blues” as a discrete musical genre. Early music producers cut down the longer versions of songs which could sometimes go on for verses and verses with no change. With the evolution of music technology, longer recordings were possible. This allowed people to be more free and creative with what they make. The number of performers and musicians grew by 25% per capita. This just shows how much the invention of records and the phonograph changed the world. People now had the ability to make there own music and get there ideas out into the world. Truly a powerful movement.
The ever growing range of music technology that is available changes the way that people recorded music. This was definitely for the better. The invention of streaming sites impacted peoples daily lives, and how they consume the music that they love. Without the early days of recording, none of this would have been possible.
SOURCE:https://www.connollymusic.com/stringovation/how-the-ability-to-record-music-changed-the-music-industry#:~:text=How%20the%20Ability%20to%20Record%20Music%20Changed%20the,how%20a%20specific%20song%20should%20be%20played.%20