| Music is the art of combining vocal and/or instrumental | | | | the records to come out was the 45 made for single |
| tones in a structured manner.Music has been around | | | | songs.It took the music industry decades to advance |
| almost as long as the earth is old. We can designate | | | | from the 45 record to new formats, such as |
| medieval music as a beginning, although a precise time | | | | 8-tracks and audio/cassette tapes. Once they were |
| is impossible because the knowledge of that time | | | | created it seemed as if the industry took off and |
| period is too vague.However, in the 1100s large | | | | overnight the CD (molded plastic disk scanned by a |
| volumes of written, notated polyphony and non-liturgical | | | | laser beam for digital data) was "born". These, like the |
| Latin songs began emerging before two major | | | | record were, and still are, sold in stores for customers |
| changes began to take place.a) The use of the interval | | | | to purchase and take home to play on their CD |
| of a third as a stable harmony. | | | | players. Following shortly behind is the Mp3 |
| b) Humanistic orientation to text with music.These | | | | player(standard technology and format for |
| changes took several decades, putting the beginning of | | | | compressing audio signals into very small computer |
| the Renaissance somewhere between the 1420s | | | | files. Sound data from a CD is compressed to 1/12 the |
| (harmonies of Dufay) and the 1500s (humanistic texts | | | | original size) and ipod (portable Mp3 player).Now, the |
| of Josquin), which brings us to the beginning of opera in | | | | pace has picked up even faster and we can |
| the 1600s. The Renaissance style ended around 1750 | | | | download music right off the internet. In the beginning |
| and is also among the clearest divisions of Western | | | | though, a company (I'm not going to mention any |
| music.Sometime in the early 1700s through the late | | | | names) was allowing people to download as many |
| 1800s, the best known pieces of European Classical | | | | songs as they chose for free. But, there was a |
| music were written.The 1800s was the beginning of a | | | | problem..It was not exactly legal. A computer company |
| new era, because of a brilliant man by the name of | | | | names Apple made the process legitimate by allowing |
| Thomas Edison. This man was an exceptional inventor, | | | | the artists to get paid for their work. The music |
| on 12-6-1877 he finished one of his best inventions...The | | | | industry now has the opportunity to license and sell it's |
| phonograph and had it patent on 2-19-1878. Now mind | | | | content over the internet. The idea that people would |
| you it was a fairly complicated machine, using a metal | | | | pay for downloading music seemed a bit far fetched in |
| cylinder with tin foil wrapped around it. The machine | | | | the beginning. But, music sales have gone down by |
| had two diaphragm-and-needle units, one for recording, | | | | one-fifth since the millennium and downloads increased |
| and one for playback. When he spoke into a | | | | to over 500 million by July of 2005.A revolution in the |
| mouthpiece, the sound vibrations would be indented | | | | music industry was changed dramatically on February |
| onto the cylinder by the recording needle in a vertical | | | | 23, 2006 when a 16 year old, Alex Ostrovsky came |
| groove pattern. Edison gave a sketch of the machine | | | | home and downloaded a song from the Coldplay |
| to his mechanic, John Kreusi, to build, which Kreusi | | | | concert he left just minutes before. Alex down loaded |
| supposedly did within about 30 hours. Edison | | | | one of the songs for 99 cents from the iTunes Music |
| immediately tested the machine by speaking the | | | | store (which the Apple computer company started |
| nursery rhyme "Mary had a little lamb" into the | | | | less than 3 years ago). Shortly after that an Apple |
| mouthpiece, and to his amazement, the machine | | | | employee called to let him know he has just |
| played his words back to him.Now, we are going to | | | | downloaded the ONE BILLIONTH song. For being the |
| get a little closer to the twentieth century of music in | | | | lucky downloader, Apple Computer Company is |
| time in the 1900s. | | | | sending him a $10,000.00 gift card for the iTunes Music |
| Starting in the beginning of the 1900s, there were disks | | | | Store, a 20-inch iMac, 10 ipods, and a scholarship to the |
| (no, not CD's yet) used by recording studios to record | | | | Juilliard School in New York.The "one billionth download" |
| music. These discs called records were then sold in | | | | should go to show you how much this industry has |
| stores for consumers to purchase and take home to | | | | taken over the music world over time! |
| play on their (phonograph) record player. The last of | | | | |