New Technologies, New Music

While it’s seeds were sown in earlier decades, the 1980s is often considered the starting point of the digital age or the digital revolution. The release of the IBM PC in 1981, computers – previously relegated to labs and other industrial settings – increasingly became part of households. Meanwhile, companies like Motorola began releasing ear mobile phones and networks, paving the way for the smartphone revolution to come.

In music, digitization offered new sounds, new modes of distribution, and prices cheaper than ever before. Inventions such as the Walkman and VHS player provided new possibilities for music fans – allowing them a level of creativity in developing their own mixtapes and even recording concerts in a way that was impossible in the 1960s and 1960s. The advent of the digital chip allowed synthesizers – previously forbiddingly expensive and unwieldy to all but musical superstars – to become available to a wider range of musicians.

This unit examines the interrelationship between technological advancement, creative expression, and the music industry, and examines how new technologies helped drive new genres and means of experiencing music.