The Future of Music: A Reading List
Over the last century, the way we listen to music has undergone countless revolutions. From concert halls and sheet music, to radio and LPs, to television and CDs, to the internet and MP3s, to smartphones and streaming, the only constant has been change.
Or has it? Pop songs have remained more or less the same length and format throughout that time, and a time traveler from the 1800s would easily recognize the concert-going experience of today. An album is still an album, and the major scale is still the major scale (except outside of the Western world, of course).
In short, there are many different perspectives on the future of music. To help you come to grips with the many viewpoints on how listening will change over the coming decades, I’ve pulled together some of the best writing on the subject. As ever, if you think I’ve missed something great, tell me about it. Write a Medium response or email me at duncan@howwegettonext.com.
“Of all noises, I think music is the least disagreeable.”
— Samuel Johnson, attributed in The Tickler magazine, 1818
The Hit Single
When talking about the future of music, it’s impossible to avoid arguments that the sky is continuously falling as a result of piracy, streaming, or the latest internet technology. In this excellent piece for The New York Times, How We Get To Next’s very own Steven Johnson digs up some real data and finds that things aren’t anywhere near as bad as we’ve been led to believe. “Somehow,” he writes, “the turbulence of the last 15 years seems to have created an economy in which more people than ever are writing and performing songs for a living.”
On July 11, 2000, in one of the more unlikely moments in the history of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Orrin…www.nytimes.com
For balance, here’s the Future of Music Coalition, which is quoted in the piece, taking issue with some of the details. “If you want to know how musicians are faring,” the collective writes, “you have to ask musicians. You’ll get different answers from different musicians, and they’ll all be correct in terms of their own experiences. But your overall understanding will better reflect the complexity of the landscape.”
Album Tracks
Now that you’ve got a couple of perspectives on what’s happened in recent years, what can we expect in the coming decades? Streaming, playlists, and other technologies have revolutionized modern music listening, as have new approaches to celebrity and fame. Here are five reads that’ll tell you everything you need to know.
Tech and music are two businesses hardly known for their immunity to trends, and the playlist push has been met with mixed…pitchfork.com
In the 90s, Aby Ngana Diop was the queen of taasu, a practice of ritual poetry performed by female griots in Senegal…www.theverge.com
Deep Cuts
Still with me and want more? You got it. Here’s the back catalogue — a collection of reads on specific topics related to the future of music technology, art, and culture from a variety of viewpoints.
In the ways we created and consumed mixtapes, we find the earliest glimmers of the social media experiences of today…medium.com
For the next week, SPIN will be venturing into the great unknown to attempt to answer some questions…www.spin.com
I participated on a panel at the 2013 USC Institute on Entertainment Law and Business on October 5 in Los Angeles…musictechpolicy.wordpress.com
One afternoon in February, Tumblr president John Maloney called in to the Atom Factory, the Los Angeles offices of Troy Carter... www.wired.co.uk
“Many people are experimenting with the drug ecstasy. I heard you say once that a lie is sweet in the beginning and…www.spin.com
Steve Albini is the producer (he prefers the term “recording engineer”) behind several thousand records. He is also a…www.theguardian.com
For years—decades, centuries even—we’ve always wanted to be first. Being first affirms our primacy in the pecking order…www.thefader.com
Marie Korpe and Ole Reitov have been tracking the music censors and the censored for more than a decade. They reflect on the tactics of modern censorship. ioc.sagepub.com
This is the first in a weekly series of six essays looking at hip-hop's recent past, thinking about its distant past…www.vulture.com
U2 force-fed their new album to the world for free and ended up the enemy. Taylor Swift took hers away and ended up a…flavorwire.com
Liner Notes
Alright, perhaps you prefer a more physical experience — like pulling a record out of its sleeve and placing it on a turntable. Here’s a collection of physical books addressing different aspects of music’s future and recent past.
Today, the record companies may be hurting, but the music-making business is booming—using nontraditional digital methods and distribution models. This book explains where we are and where we are heading.www.amazon.com
The first comprehensive history of the disc jockey, a figure who has become a powerful force shaping the music industry. Since its original publication, the book has become a cult classic. www.amazon.com
The chronological story of the modern pop era, from its beginnings in the 50s with the dawn of the charts, vinyl and the music press, to pop’s digital switchover in the year 2000.www.amazon.com
The KLF’s legendary step-by-step guide for how to hit the top of the charts. First published in 1988, long out of print, but now available once again. www.amazon.com
Did I miss any fantastic reads that should be included here? Get in touch by emailing me at duncan@howwegettonext.com, or leave a response below.
This post is part of How We Get To Next’s Fast Forward month, looking at the future of music through December 2015. Check out more from the collection here.
