History of the Music Industry Timeline

Phonograph (1870s)

The phonograph was invented by Thomas Edison, in 1878 the first music was ut on record but the phonographs were too bulky and expensive so they weren't used very much.

Vinyl Record (1920s)

This was the time when music started to be created more for the purpose of monetary gain rather than just for entertainment. In order to be able to sell songs the vinyl record was invented as an easier way to transport music which at the time they were being used to transport music to the troops during WW2. Jazz was the main genre of music which lifted the spirits of people during the war.

Jukebox (1920s)

Jukeboxes became very popular as they were a way to listen to music without having to buy vinyl records which at the time could be expensive, jukeboxes were found within most bars and fairgrounds and allowed people to listen to the music of their choice for a small fee (usually coins).

Elvis Presley (1950s)

Elvis Presley was idolized by teens and seen by the parents as rebellious as a lot of his music was anti-authority and sexual. This was also the time when denim jeans became a fashion statement for teens.

The Beatles (1960s)

The Beatles released their first single 'Love Me Do' which became an instant hit. This was also near to the time when audio cassettes were released which benefitted their career. During this time the BBC was the dominant radio station and they refused to play any rock n roll music as it didn't appeal to the older audiences.

Casette Tape (1960s)

The casette tape was created as a more convenient way to purchase music which also allowed you to play it in your car as most cars started to include features to play casette tapes.

Radio Caroline (1960s)

Radio Caroline was one of the many pirate radio stations started at this time, they would have ships which they would broadcast from and play music which other stations would refuse to do such as rock n roll. This was a problem for the music industry as people would record the music from the radio stations onto their own casette tapes and obtain the music without paying for it, however in 1967 the government closed a loophole in the law which allowed for these pirate radio stations to function and shut them down.

Woodstock (1970s)

Woodstock came soon, 2 years after, the first ever music festival and it was hosted in New York. The event sparked a movie, two soundtrack albums and has since been seen as the stuff of legend as it showcased some of the most influential and famous artists of the time, such as Jimi Hendrix and The Who.

The Sex Pistols (1970s)

After the 1960's, the 1970's was the decade of happy and optimistic disco music, coming from bands such as Pink Floyd and Led Zepplin, there were also the other extreme, rebellious, angry punk movements with bands like the ramones, the clash and the sex pistols.

The Sex Pistols were discribed by the BBC as being a 'difinitive English punk rock band'. The anger they had at the world was obvious in their lyrics and they went against the government and establishment, singing about anarchy amongst other things.

Michael Jackson (1980s)

Michael Jackson lead the way as the top male solo artist of the decade. He used music videos as a way to increase his popularity and he released 'Thriller' which was a 14 minute long video to accompany the song. This video and song became a global phenomenon, sales of his album had declined before the video was released and when the video was released the album went straight to number 1 on the MTV charts.

MTV (1980s)

In 1981 MTV was launched as the first ever non-stop music video channel and started a new era in the promotion, consumption and power of pop music. Young people grew up at this time expecting their favourite songs to have music videos to go with them and due to the popularity of music videos record companies had to increase their budgets in order to ensure that music videos are been released along with the songs.

CD (1980s)

The CD was released as a way to easily distribute and sell music, they were initially described as being indestructible as well as producing crystal clear sound, people weren't sure about this technology at first but as CD players became more affordable they became more popular and overtook vinyl and cassettes in popularity.

Live Aid (1990s)

Live Aid was a festival put together in order to raise money for Ethiopian famine. The event was help simultaneously in London, England, United Kingdom and in Philadelphia, Pennylvania, United States and was attended by around 200,000 people in total. It was also broadcasted on television and the estimated global audience was 1.9 billion people across 150 nations. It's estimated that around £150 million was raised.

iPod (2000s)

In 2001 Apple introduced iTunes and that changed the music world forever, they also released the iPod during 2001. Originally it was only intended for Mac computers but in 2003 they released a PC version of the iTunes store and PC users were able to access music downloads. CD sales plummeted and illegal downloads meant that people who may have previously purchased the music on CD were able to get it for free due to the wide number of illegal download websites.

MySpace (2000s)

MySpace was introduced as a way for new music artists to promote themselves when they otherwise wouldn't have been able to.