An historical survey of technology used in the production and presentation of music in the 20th Century

This paper explores the historical progression of the technological development of records and radio and its impact on popular music. It also includes the production technologies that create recorded music, the development of records, cassettes and CDs, and areas of reproduction that have an association with popular music including the sound technologies of radio, film, television, background music, and the juke-box. This paper is not a cultural or social study, but is primarily an historical account of media technology in music production and delivery. Certain social and cultural consequences and issues are included as background and sidebars to the primary topic. The technology of live performance has been omitted because it alone represents a body of material large enough for an entire paper. Western society now travels through a sea of music emanating from countless hidden sources. Such music delivery systems provide a continuous musical score for most people's personal histories. Sound, fragments of sound, and the very processes by which sound is created and manipulated have become products and commodities. The technology has allowed anyone to participate in the creation and hearing of music. This paper traces the history of the various technologies that, in so many respects, have provided a catalyst for that which is created, and the means by which music is listened to in the 20th Century. With rare exception, each new invention, delivery system, or process has had both supporters as well as detractors. Throughout this paper, both the positive as well as the negative effects of these developments will be explored