The Evolution of Music
Let's walk through the history and evolution of the creation of music.

Have you ever wondered how life must've been before musical instruments were invented? For thousands of years, man has enjoyed music. From the harps of King David's era to the orchestras of Bach and Beethoven to the hip-hop parties in New York, music has remained a key source of joy and inspiration to humans. In that sense, nothing has changed. As a race, we still depend heavily on music.

That said, everything else about music has changed. From production to distribution to consumption, everything changed. Join me as I walk down memory lane to trace how these changes have happened.

The times have changed...

Consider this. There was a time when not everyone had access to music. There was a time when music had to be played live because there was no technology to record performances. Only a select few, those wealthy enough, had access to music. Everyone else just got touches of music wherever they could find any. Today, I can find almost any song in the whole world on Spotify. You consider it trivial, but when you remember that thousands of years ago no one could put a song on repeat, maybe you can understand how incredible it is. King Solomon needed a full choir to keep himself entertained. All we need is an iPod.

The times have changed, music today is not what it was even fifty years ago, not to mention a thousand years ago. So what happened? How did we get here? How did a luxury reserved for the elite become the massive industry it is today? Let's talk about the evolution of music.

What changed?

If I were to cover every inch of the evolution of music, I would need at least ten such articles. So permit me to give only an overview here. If you're interested in going deeper, I'd be happy to oblige.

Production

I love a good acapella song, but instruments are a key part of the music. Over the years, the change in musical instruments is one major part of the evolution of music. There are two types of instruments if you ask me.

Early instruments

In biblical times, musical instruments were almost nonexistent. They had the harp and horns for war, but the pickings were pretty slim. The best musicians set themselves apart with their voices and lyrics. Slowly but surely, the inherent dissatisfaction of man with the status quo resulted in the design and production of more instruments. The Roman Empire and the empires that followed it all considered music an integral part of their society and culture. I won't go into any detail about music in that era, but with time came progress.

Classical instruments

As music developed, the instruments got better and more complex. The 1940s, the Renaissance era, saw the invention of what I like to call the classical instruments. The trumpet, violin, oboe, and clarinet among others were all developed in this era. By the 1800s, even more, classical instruments like the saxophone were invented. Remember that there was still no device to record anything, so all music had to be performed live.

Electronics

By the late 1900s, inventions shifted from instruments to electronics. The guitar, piano, saxophone, and all other instruments were nice, but that same dissatisfaction with the status quo led to even more discovery. Man discovered the computer, and nothing would be the same again, a new kind of musical instrument had arrived. Computers could produce the sounds made by already existing instruments and add some new sounds too. Today, we have access to hundreds of different features on a single digital audio workstation.

Distribution

Early distribution methods

Thomas Edison is renowned for inventing the light bulb, but in 1877, he made another invention almost as important as that, the phonograph. Before his invention, no one could record sound so all music had to be performed live. By combining elements of the telegraph and the telephone, however, Mr. Edison helped solve the problem. If you've ever wondered what inspired the awards given at the Grammys, they're replicas of Mr. Edison's phonograph.

From the phonograph, we moved to vinyl records from the 1930s right down to the 1970s. This gave way to cassette tapes which reigned until the 1990s before getting usurped by the compact disc, or CD. All these distribution methods were dominated by powerful companies called record labels. They controlled distribution so they were the lords of the music industry.

The Internet

By the late 1990s, however, the internet arrived and everything changed for the music industry. The face of this change was a platform called Napster. It allowed users to look for and download music onto their devices. This means people could find music for free and listen to it as many times as they wanted. Napster was eventually shut down, but the floodgates were open. In 2003, Apple launched iTunes and in 2008, Spotify emerged. As you would expect, digital music sales topped physical music sales within four years of Spotify's emergence.

Consumption

Production and distribution are not the only parts of music that have changed. We, the consumers, have changed too. We started with one genre but today I can't even count how many we have. Music is no longer a luxury meant for the elite. Everyone can make music, and everyone can enjoy music. This has triggered an overwhelming diversity like our ancestors would've never imagined.

Classical music reigned for a while but got usurped by genres like rock. By the 80s, hip-hop and RnB were in full swing. Today, new genres like Afropop and K-pop are getting global attention. Indie music has also changed things by going completely against the norm. The gloves are off, the rules are only there to be bent. When you think about how much one had to go through to become a musician, indeed things have changed.

Final Thoughts

Music has come a long way, but there's still forever to go. Once reserved for the elite, it's now open to everyone. One thing's for sure now, no one can control what happens next. We can only try to anticipate and adjust, but music is on a roll and there will be no stopping it.