CH. 6 - Audio

Thomas Edison’s phonograph: Recording and playing back sound.

1877: Edison developed the phonograph to record and play sound. Originally intended for dictation. First recordings included “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Recordings lasted about 10 seconds. Cylinders were difficult to reproduce and wore out.

Emile Berliner’s gramophone

 1888: Berliner developed the gramophone, which recorded sound on flat discs. Discs were louder, more realistic, and easier to reproduce, helping create the modern recording industry.

Recording formats

LPs (1948): Columbia Records, vinyl, about 23 minutes per side, used for albums. 45s: RCA, about 4 minutes, used for singles. Cassettes (1963): portable, allowed mixtapes. CDs: Philips and Sony, used lasers, launched 1982 in Europe and 1983 in the U.S. MP3s and streaming made online sharing easier.

Analog versus digital recording

Analog stores sound as a physical or magnetic representation of a sound wave. Digital stores sound as numbers. Digital copies retain quality, making music easier to burn, copy, and share online.

Morse, Hertz, Marconi, and Fessenden

Morse invented the telegraph in 1844, sending messages through wires. Hertz demonstrated radio waves in 1888. Marconi developed wireless telegraphy in 1894. Fessenden broadcast voice, poetry, and Christmas carols in 1905.

Radio as household mass entertainment

David Sarnoff's 1915 “Radio Music Box” memo imagined radio as a household device bringing music into people's homes. He recognized that reaching large audiences with the same message was an advantage.

NBC, CBS, and William Paley

NBC: Created by RCA in 1926, the first major U.S. radio network. Its Blue Network eventually became ABC. CBS: William Paley bought a radio network and renamed it CBS. He used advertising to make money. Advertisers were the main customers, and audiences were the product.

Radio’s golden age

The 1920s–1940s were radio's Golden Age. Radio was the main source of home entertainment, featuring professional performers. Television became dominant in the 1950s and replaced radio as the main household entertainment medium.

Format radio and the companion medium

Radio offered music, drama, comedy, and action programs. Soap operas were daytime dramas targeting women because soap companies advertised during them. When TV became popular, radio became a companion medium people listened to while driving, working, or doing chores.

Ownership consolidation

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 removed many ownership restrictions. Clear Channel grew from 42 stations in 1995 to over 1,200 by 2003, later becoming iHeartMedia. Consolidation meant fewer owners, less local programming, and more similar stations.

Rock ’n’ roll

Rock 'n' roll combined Black R&B/blues with white country music. Elvis Presley mixed country and R&B, bringing rock to white audiences. Chuck Berry blended country sounds into blues-based music. Rock became especially popular with teenagers.

Motown and the British Invasion

Motown, founded by Berry Gordy Jr., brought Black artists and music into mainstream culture. The British Invasion began in 1964 with bands like The Beatles and Rolling Stones. British bands helped make full albums more important than singles.

Concept albums and producers

Producers became important in shaping music by choosing songs, performers, and technicians. Studio technology and effects created complete musical experiences. Examples include Rick Rubin and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.

Hip-hop culture

Hip-hop developed in the 1970s in New York. Four elements: MCing (rap), DJing (mixing music), B-boying (breakdancing), and graffiti art. DJ Kool Herc helped develop breakbeats. Hip-hop eventually became mainstream and global.

Personal listening and the long tail

The Sony Walkman (1979), helped by Akio Morita, created private personal soundtracks. Podcasts and streaming let anyone distribute audio and reach niche audiences. The 1,000 True Fans idea means creators can succeed with dedicated supporters. Crowdfunding and subscriptions support independent artists.

Radio’s new look

HD radio offers digital CD-quality sound and multiple channels. SiriusXM (Sirius and XM merged in 2008) uses subscriptions and offers nationwide listening but limited local content. Streaming makes audio portable and global. Podcasts allow almost anyone to create and distribute audio online.

45-rpm disc

A small record that played at 45 revolutions per minute, usually holding one song per side.

Analog recording

Sound stored as a physical/magnetic representation of the original sound; copies can lose quality.

British invasion

The 1960s movement when British rock bands, especially The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, became extremely popular in the U.S.

Compact cassette tape

A small magnetic tape format used to record, play, and carry music, popular in the 1970s–90s.

Compact disc (CD)

A digital music format read by a laser, introduced in the early 1980s.

Concept album

An album in which songs are connected by a common theme or story and are meant to be experienced together.

Country music

A music genre developed from folk, blues, and gospel, traditionally focused on storytelling and everyday life.

Cover

A new performance/recording of a song originally recorded by another artist.

Digital recording

Sound stored as numbers/data, allowing copies to be made without losing quality.

Disco

A dance-oriented genre that developed from New York’s gay club culture and became popular in the 1970s.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

U.S. government agency that regulates radio, television, and other communications.

Format radio

Radio organized around a specific type of programming or audience, such as country, sports, or news/talk.

Girl groups

Female vocal groups that became especially popular in 1950s–60s pop and R&B.

Golden age of radio 

The 1920s–1940s, when radio was the main source of home entertainment.

Gramophone

An early record player that used flat discs to reproduce sound.

HD radio

Digital radio technology that provides higher-quality sound and additional channels using terrestrial radio signals.

High fidelity (hi-fi)

High-quality sound reproduction with better high and low frequencies

Hip-hop 

A cultural movement combining DJing, MCing/rapping, dancing, and graffiti art, originating in the 1970s.

Long-playing record (LP)

A 33⅓-rpm vinyl record that could hold much more music than earlier records, commonly used for albums.

MP3

A compressed digital audio file format that made music easy to store, share, and play online.

Network

A group of radio stations connected to share the same programming.

Non-notated music

Music that is not written down as sheet music, such as music passed along by listening and memory.

Phonograph

Thomas Edison’s 1877 recording device that could record and play sound

Podcast

An audio program distributed over the internet that can be streamed or downloaded.

Producers

People who help create and shape the final sound of a recording, including choosing songs, performers, and production techniques. 

Race records

The term used before 1949 for recordings by Black musicians, including blues, gospel, and jazz.

Radio Music Box memo

David Sarnoff’s 1915 memo imagining radio as a household device that could bring music and entertainment into people's homes.

Rap music

A style of music centered on rhymed/spoken words delivered over a beat; one element of hip-hop.

Rock ’n’ roll

A genre that developed from R&B and country/hillbilly music, becoming especially popular with young people in the 1950s.

Satellite radio

Radio delivered by satellites, allowing listeners to receive programming across large geographic areas, usually through a subscription. 

Shock jock

A radio host known for controversial, outrageous, or provocative content.

Soap operas

Serialized daytime dramas, originally sponsored heavily by soap and cleaning-product companies.

Social music

Music that people perform and enjoy together, such as singing or playing instruments with family and friends.

Streaming audio

Audio played over the internet without needing to download the entire file first, such as Spotify or online radio.

Telegraph

A system that used electrical signals to send messages over wires.

Terrestrial radio

Traditional radio broadcasts sent from radio towers/stations on Earth, as opposed to satellite or internet radio.

Wireless telegraph

A system that sent telegraph messages through radio waves instead of physical wires.

19th Century

• Phonograph and gramophone: allowed recording of sound onto metal cylinders (phonograph) and then on discs that could be reproduced

  • Grammys look like this

Early 20th 

• Hi-fi, 45s, LPs

• Improved sound quality, records became mass-produced items, printed on vinyl, and purchased as short playing 45s (4 min.) - and long-playing LPs

Late 20th Century

• Cassettes, compact discs, and walkman

• Digital recordings were sold on cassettes of audio tape, CDs allowed for higher quality audio on more compact, durable and navigable discs

• Walkman allowed people to take music and other audio on the go

Millennium

• Digital recording, MP3s, music sharing, 

• recorded music became less tangible with digital recording and the ability to easily load devices with - and easily share with others - compressed, high-quality MP3 files

Early 20th RADIO

•  From novel tech to a mass medium

• Wireless telegraph was reimagined as a tool for mass communication.

• Govt. takes over during WW1 afterward, commercial stations emerge

• Federal Radio commission est. 1927

Golden Age RADIO

• dominant medium in 20s, 30s, 40s

• Radio was the one true mass entertainment medium.

• Increasingly influential as source of news

• Radio network supplied content and advertising

Companion Age

• Most attended to mass medium

• But probably not the most influential

• Moved toward TV

Digital Age

• Satellite, web radio, podcasts

• No FCC regulation of content on satellite

• Traditional broadcast radio, you have to be licensed and are subject to public regulations

• Web radio and podcasts helped democratize content creation and allowed time and space shifting

• Terrestrial radio turns to more talk formats

Radio

• The most resilient medium

• 90% of adults listen every week

Big Shift in Late 1990s: Consolidation

• Ownership restrictions eased

• 1996 Telecom Act - is a landmark U.S. federal law signed on February 8, 1996, by President Bill Clinton. It was the first major overhaul of American telecommunications law in more than 60 years, amending the Communications Act of 1934 to open local telephone, cable, and broadcast markets to competition.

• Clear Channel --- grows from a few dozen stations to 1200 stations

Some Reversal in the 2000s and 2010s

• Clear channel eventually sells off some asset an becomes IHeart radio

• Still owns 860 station

• Next is Cumulus with 377

Consolidation Effects

• Less localism 

• Homogenization

• Would take small news bites and have each station produce it 

• Monopoly

• Censorship (dixie chicks - started saying critical things about george bush and the war)

Content Trends

• The Shock Jock Era is over (stunts and pranks, over the top)

• Moved to satellite and podcasts

• Music is still key

• News radio decline. Except…

Yakety Yak

• Big money maker

• Cheap content

• Politically influential

• huge-audiences

Commercial Talk

• Of the 28 syndicated shows with at least 1 million daily listeners;

  • 24 conservative

  • 3 not political

  • 1 liberal

Public Radio (for profit)

• 22 million weekly listeners

• Most trusted news source

• Funding struggles

  • CPB funds (10-15)

  • Donations

  • Memberships

• Corporation for Public Broadcasting

• Allocates $445 millions to support public radio and TV

• Non-political board

• Pres. sought elimination but it survives

• The government just cut all funding for NPR and public tv

Huge blow to smaller and rural public radio stations

will worsen the news desert problem

Public Media Expenditures by Country

• Public Funding Per Person: Germany highest with $142.42

Satellite Radio

• Great technology

• No content regulation

• Subscribers and revenue flat but steady

• SiriusXM

Dominance of Streaming

• 75 percent of all recording industry revenue

  • Spotify (290 million)

  • Tencent (127 Million)

  • Apple (116 Million)

The Piracy Wars of the 2000s

• Napster created a platform where young people can upload their music, any subscribers could pluck and download those files

• Kids would steal and be able to utilize this music taking it from big bands

• Government shut down Napster and said it was a facilitator of copyright

• Grokster was allowing to trade downloads, but now also shut down

Recording Industry Assoc. Am.

• Started hitting with individual legal lawsuits

• People started going off on RIAA

Listenership Trends

• Our age listens to podcast the most (not many major shifts)

• AM/FM Radio is biggest with 32%

• Streaming is 26%

How do Artists Get Paid?

• Artists register songs with ASCAP or BMI

  • Radio stations buy licenses from ASCAP or BMI to play those songs

  • Percentage of that $$ goes back to artists bassed on number of plays

  • But only composers get paid

• Streaming goes through SoundExchange:

  • 50% composer

  • 45% to recording artists

  • 5% to nonfeatured musicians/vocalists

Consolidation: 3 Major Labels

• Universal

• WarnerBros

• Sony

Artist and Repertoire

• Find the artists

• Choose their “look”

• Pick the songs

• Oversee the recording process

• “I don’t hear a single”

Bypassing Labels

• Radiohead distributes in rainbows free online

Fighting for Ownership

• Rerecord her songs (taylor’s version)

Getting Songs on Air

• Payola in the Past - SEX, MONEY, DRUGS

• Took many bribes to get songs on the air

• Since many stations were privately owned, they would have to go to extreme measures get songs played

  • Transitioned to legalized version of ‘payola’

    • Independent promoter served as a middle man, would get a payment each time they would get a song on the air

Tension Between Art and Commerce

• Why are pop songs, or general songs only 3-4 minutes long?

  • It makes it easier to run commercials