Chapter 7Audio:

Music and Talk Across Media

Storing Sound

• 1877: Edison invents phonograph, records sound on foil cylinders.

• 1888: Emile Berliner develops gramophone, plays music on mass produced discs.

• 1953: Hi-Fi is combination of technologies to create better music reproduction.

Signals at a Distance

• 1844: Samuel Morse’s telegraph allowed messages to be sent over wires.

• 1890s: Guglielmo Marconi develops wireless telegraph.

• 1905: Reginald Fessenden makes Christmas Eve broadcast with voices and music.

Radio Music Box Memo

• Written in 1915 by American Marconi engineer David Sarnoff.

• Suggested major uses for radio as mass communication tool including news, music, and sports.

• More receivers than transmitters.

RCA Monopoly

• Radio Corporation of America created to bring together patents, develop radio as medium.

• Composed of General Electric, AT&T, Westinghouse, & United Fruit Company.

• United Fruit Company??? Held many radio patents to communicate with ships carrying fruit.

• 1920: KDKA in Pittsburgh launched as first commercial radio station.

How To Make Money With Radio?

• Taxes?• Selling radios?• Advertising

Growth of Radio Networks

• Sarnoff saw NBC as source of programming.• William Paley saw CBS as advertising medium.• ABC was splintered off from NBC.

Golden Age of Radio

• Music• Drama

Little Orphan Annie, The Lone Ranger, The Shadow

• Soap operasGuiding Light started on radio in 1937, moved to television in 1952, ran until 2009

Golden Age of Radio

Amos ‘n’ Andy• Started in 1926, became most popular show

on radio.• Story of two African American men;

writers/actors were white.• Controversial, but popular with both black and

white audiences; portrayed a black middle class.

The BBC

• British Broadcasting Company created as public service in the 1920s.

• During World War II was international voice against Nazis, transmitting around the world on shortwave.

• Current BBC reaches 95 percent of world’s population, uses Internet as well as FM, shortwave, and satellite.

Rock ‘n’ Roll & Musical Integration

• Rhythm & blues• Hillbilly music• Rock ‘n’ roll• Dewey Phillips attracted multi-racial audience

for Red, Hot & Blue radio show • 1950s: Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry• 1950s and 1960s: Motown

British Invasion

A rougher sound from British bands• The Beatles• The Who• The Rolling Stones• Dusty Springfield• Many others

Role of Producers

• Producer: job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist’s music. A producer has many roles that may include, but are not limited to, gathering ideas for the project, selecting songs and/or musicians, coaching the artist and musicians in the studio, controlling the recording sessions…

Role of Producers

• and supervising the entire process through mixing and mastering. Producers also often take on a wider entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules, and negotiations

Effects of Music on Young People

• Have always been concerns about effects of lyrics on young people.

• Rap and hip-hop have attracted lots of controversy.

• Fears of hidden or “back masked” lyrics.• Middle-class white parents concerned about

effects of black music.

Changing Musical Formats

• Always a conflict over what format will be used to distribute music.

• LPs (Long Play) vs. 45s shorter less songs

Rise of Digital Music

• Digital CDs introduced in early 1980s, sold for premium price.

• With analog recordings, quality of copies degrades with each generation.

• Digital recordings allow consumers to make perfect copies.

Consequences of Digital Music

• Consumers “share” music over the Internet, violating copyright law.

• But artists can use Internet to promote music directly to consumers, bypassing record labels.

Radio BusinessPopular Radio Formats

1. Country 12.7%2. News/Talk/Info 10.7%3. Adult Contemporary 7.2%4. Top 40 5.6%5. Classic Rock 4.5%

Radio BusinessTalk Radio

• Political talk radioMost political talk is conservative; Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity most popular.

• Shock JocksHoward Stern, Opie and Anthony, Bubba the Love Sponge.

• All-sports radioPassionate listeners who won’t change channels.

Radio Consolidation

• Broadcast ownership largely deregulated with Telecommunications Act of 1996.

• Prior to 1985, a single entity could own no more than 7 AM and 7 FM stations nation-wide.

• After 1996, could own unlimited number of radio stations.

• By 2003, Clear Channel owned 1,200+ stations

Public Radio

• NPR founded in 1967• All Things Considered goes on the air in 1971• NPR’s Morning Edition news show has bigger

audience than any of the morning TV programs

• NPR’s Web site is key part of network’s strategy.

• Is no longer National Public Radio, just NPR.

The Changing Musical Experience

• Death of social music.• Rise of the “personal soundtrack” with Sony

Walkman, followed by iPod and other MP3 players.

• Can lead to “withdrawal from social connections.”

Future of SoundRadio

• HD trying to bring new life to broadcast radio, but few receivers.

• Satellite Radio—XM and Sirius merge. • Are people willing to pay for subscription

radio?

Future of SoundLong Tail Alternatives

• WebcastingStreaming sound over the Internet

• PodcastingDownloading programs to take with you on your MP3 player.

New Economic Modelsfor Music Industry

• CD sales declining.• Pirating and illegal file sharing common.• Artists need new ways to make money• Touring, sale of merchandise, commercial

endorsements, direct sales of music to consumers are all options.