11/12/2018
While sampling is one important aspect of the development of music around the world, being able to look at the overall development of different genres is another key factor in analyzing the growth of music anywhere. Especially outside the US, where most if not all music is, on some level, unfamiliar to us. I have always though it is interesting how influence from music around the world can become almost invisible to us as it grows and progresses further and further from its original roots. Songs like J Lo’s On the Floor has roots in Bolivian folk music – two individuals by the names of Ulises Hermosa and his brother Gonzalo. I have never heard these names before, and outside of looking at this particular song I probably never will again. But they contributed to a melody line that has been played in clubs, basements, through earphones, on radio stations, and at more parties than anyone could count. (This in particular is another example of sampling). A lot of music has connections that we would never realize and it is so important to keep these connections in order to better understand both where music came from and where it is going.
11/14/2018
The invention and quickly increasing popularity of the MP3 changed the way we enjoy music a lot more than we realize. Not only in the way sounds are received, but in what we physically hear. MP3 technology has to ability to mask or compress certain frequencies so that they are not even heard. In some cases, sounds that are hardly heard can be removed completely.
The invention of the MP3 also became a utilitarian entity. It sparked the popularity of other devices, such as he use of cell phones to listen to music. This contributes to the idea that music derives its meaning from circulation. Again, as we have repeatedly learned through many different forms, information demands to be free. Music demands to be heard and spread, and with technologies such as these, it is wildly easy. This raises the question of the artist…should they be paid for every time a song is played? Should a listener be able to buy a song one time and listen to it freely? Should the music be free to begin with? Aren’t artists paid by other means anyway? I believe that if everyone had to pay .99 for every song they listened too, financially this would not be possible and therefore music would have a much more complicated route in spreading throughout society. That’s not to say it wouldn’t happen, I just believe it would be different, and would alter the experience of the listener.