A
Short History of the Music Evolution
Music had begun even way
before civilizations existed. During the Medieval period, only those with royal
pedigree and who belonged to the upper class had the privilege of listening to
music through their own musicians, whom they could summon at their beck and
call. Meanwhile, the peasants also yearned to have access to this; therefore
after countless revolutions all over the world, anyone was fortunate enough to
hear songs through street musicians, lounge brass bands, and even through vinyl
spun on gramophones.
In the early 80’s, during
the rage of MTV, “teased” hairdos,
shoulder pads, and neon getups, people used to listen to Michael Jackson, Madonna,
Cyndi Lauper, and those iconic
artists through cassette tapes played on humongous stereos known as “Boom Boxes.”
And in the early 90’s or what was known as the “Grunge era” (all thanks to
grunge band Nirvana’s front man, Kurt
Cobain), teens became more rebellious which led them to even have the tendency
to complain about everything, such as lugging stuff that’s heavy. This then led
scientists to cook up something much lighter and more compact for adolescents
to “carry their music”; thus, the birth of the “Walkman.”
The Walkman (created by the Japanese tech juggernaut, Sony); became so
popular that it became one of the most iconic gadgets in that era. People from
all walks of life, from teens listening to grunge bands to adults tuning in to
romantic ballads, toted their Walkmans to
school, to work, and even to the grocery store. This gadget was so handy and
affordable that the sales of cassettes of bands and solo singers shot through the
roof.
But years after the new millennium,
electronics companies came up with something fresh and new; thus, the birth of
the “CD player.” CDs, which were known to have the ability to store more songs,
became the perfect alternative to the once-popular cassette tapes and since Walkmans did not have the ability to
play these, the CD player then became
the “ultimate and hipper” replacement. Techies
and wannabe-techies alike stormed
the shelves when this new gadget was launched.
Yet people began to demand
more innovation in portable music players. Listeners complained that these CDs
were too fragile and some even cost much more than the old bar-shaped cassette.
As a result of this mild uprising, IT forms raced to cook up another
“technological wonder” that could satisfy the insatiable craving of
music-lovers; hence, the birth of the “MP3
players.” These MP3 players were then offered in a wide range of sizes,
colors, and storage capabilities. Some could even be as small as a USB stick,
and some could store up to a thousand songs. And since these players did not
require people to tote along their music collection of CDs, it was the most
practical replacement for the older music players- both the Walkman and the CD player.
As MP3 players started to enter
the market, Apple CEO Steve Jobs (the
genius behind the now popular MacBook,
iPads, and iPhones) felt that there should be a more worthy portable music
player that could be as iconic as the old ones; something with a name that
everyone would know and would never forget. With this in mind, his company then
concocted what we all now as the iconic “iPod.”
This miniscule and portable device came like a “tsunami” over the whole music scene, whether local or
international. And since both musicians and music-lovers are very much
satisfied, it seems that the iPod is
here to stay for a very long time.
