How Sound Technologies and Musical and Listening Practices Co-evolve - Essay Example

Number] Music In the 21st century, the technological equipment and tools have changed the way we listen to music and the impact of music in our lives. Music was always present in the society but the way music is perceived, listened to, and influential on us has changed thoroughly due to these handy and easily available gadgets. Mp3 players, iPods, Smartphone, and headphones are some of the gadgets that have changed the position of music today. It is now become a part of the life like never before. Home, school, gym, or travelling; everything is incomplete without music. Music was never so easily available and impactful as it is today; and that is only because of how easy technology has made it to reach music everywhere and anywhere. Music is the best form of expression and ever since the historical ages, humans have been inspired and refreshed by the rhythms, beats, and hums. However, in traditional societies, reaching music wasn’t as easy as it is today. Cassettes, CDs, tapes, and records were expensive. People had to buy them to listen to their favourite music and often they would listen to a single tape for a whole month or more. People also visited public places and bought expensive concert tickets to take the joy of listening to their favourite musicians (Turino 178). This trend has been changed due to the tools that we have now. Today, technology has changed everything, even the way we listen to music. There are several ways in which music can be downloaded, listened to, and enjoyed anywhere. Technology introduced several gadgets, machines, and mediums through which media reaches to us. From being an expensive thing, music has now become the most inexpensive thing ever (Turino 178). Songs and all kinds of musical videos can be downloaded on our computers, laptops, and mobiles absolutely free. We can reach all kinds and types of music in a flash of a second and even carry it anywhere we want in our phones or portable players. One of the most influential technology advancements that changed the meaning of personal music is headphones. Headphones are a modern phenomenon that has evolved the meaning and interpretation of private music. Music is vastly listened to on headphones that almost every individual with a phone possesses. Young people and adults listen to music on their headphones while travelling, waiting, working, or before sleeping. In fact, many researchers believe the trends of private music have made people more energetic, happy, confident, and productive. Music constantly inspires and influences people making them more optimistic and warm towards their lives (Turino 180). Headphones create privacy, a small world for people even in a public place full of crowd. Music is just everywhere around us and for us. Science says listening to music enhances our ability to express and boosts up social confidence for both introverts and extroverts. Headphones are the technological device that helps people to carry their favourite music songs anywhere and listen to them and enjoy the pleasure. This is a way in which technology and music has changed our social life. People interact less with one another now as they have their headphones and their favourite songs on the track list. Social life has changed as people meet and greet less as compared to the traditional societies (Turino 180). Private music has increased and people listen to music even when they have people around them. This is one way in which music and technology has impacted the social lives of people today as they have become more private and prefer to be in their own world with themselves and their music. Research has also concluded that music has not only taken over our private space, but it also influences our personality and experience (Katz 146). Since headphones and our portable music players allow us to listen to music everywhere, it serves as a means to release emotions. Music genres have always been important to express feelings such as the blues music represented sorrow of the blacks, but today it helps us to reach music exactly the moment we are happy or sad. For example, as soon as people hear good news they would party with a happy fast song, and when someone is lonely in a crowd, he uses his music player there and listens to sad music. This helps people to release their emotions and express themselves. The change in the music listening practice helps people to release their emotions and be less expressive. Researchers have also studied that individuals’ use music to create their identity and personality, and then use this taste to establish their traits and use it as a social tool to find mutual-interest peers or mates (Katz 147). Similar music taste tends to improve the social relationship between people and creates a greater mutual understanding. This happens since music is everywhere around us. It is not a part of life, it is life. Individuals are able to share their favourite songs with one another in a flash of a second through the Bluetooth or infrared technologies present in their Smartphone and iPods. Music is a form of art and expression which helps individuals to express their feelings better (Turino 178). Smartphone applications other gadgets can also allow individuals to produce their own music within no time. Technology has introduced certain tools and equipment which help individuals to digitalize their music and produce their own tunes as they like. This helps them to express themselves by creating and modifying their tunes. Many people use applications on their Smartphone which help them to modify and equalize their music tones within no time. this has led to a change in the way music is perceived and individuals cannot only easily listen to music but also easily produce it. The portable music players and iPods have the tendency to store more than a thousand songs depending upon the expandable memory space. Even in concerts and parties, every type of music is available within no time and DJs would also introduce the practice of playing on demand and dedicating songs to one another. It seems as if music goes along with individuals wherever they go. This is why music has a huge impact on the society and the way we live our social lives. Even today, music has influenced our lives greatly and dictates us directly and indirectly on how to live in the society (Katz 146). Some critiques of the technological gadgets and equipment believe that they have made individuals more private and killed their social lives. Music doesn’t impact social lives but rather it finishes social lives. As individuals express themselves through music, release emotions through favourite songs, and take their handy gadgets wherever they go to pass their time in social settings. These gadgets have thus killed the social interactions and relationships. Thus, the equipments and gadgets have changed the listening practices of music to a great extent. Music has changed greatly over the generations and today it has affected the society and our social lives both positively and negatively. It has become a part of our personalities and routine. Technology has played the sole role in changing the listening practices and allowed music to enter our lives completely. It has made music easily available and mobile letting us listen to music in every kind of social setting and place without any disturbance. Music fills in our empty pieces as the practice of private listening becomes common. The headphones are an important contribution to the change in listening practices. Work Cited Katz, Mark. Capturing Sound: How Technology has Changed Music. USA: University of California Press, 2010. Print. Turino, Thomas. Music as Social Life: The Politics of Participation. USA: University of Chicago Press, 2008. Print. Read More