FEATURED ESSAY: Changes in Music Consumption from 1970 to 1990

An essay comparing and and contrasting recorded popular music consumption in 1970 with recorded popular music consumption in 1990.

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The ways in which listeners consumed music in 1970 in comparison to 1990 varied greatly, primarily due to significant developments in music consumption technology.

In 1970, there were few ways in which listeners could consume music in their own home. Kullenmark (2012) confirms this, stating “consumers were unable to choose between more than two alternatives when it came to hearing music...you could either listen to the radio or you could buy an album.”

At this time, albums were primarily available in the form of records- twelve-inch vinyl discs housed in cardboard sleeves that had to be carefully stored and cleaned to prevent any damage to the surface.

In comparison to this, by 1990 many people had moved to buying their music on the newer format of Compact Discs or ‘CDs’. Peek (2010) evidences this, stating “in 1982, CD players and CDs came on the market. Soon after that the music loving world embraced this new way of listening to music.”

CDs appeared superior to records in every way; they were smaller, cheaper to produce, more durable, and utilised cutting-edge digital sound technology. In fact, so confident was Lou Ottens (a key figure in the development of CDs) about this new format, that in April 1982 after demonstrating a CD player for the first time he declared “the conventional record player [to be] obsolete” (BBC News, 2010).

Ottens is also credited with the invention of the compact cassette (Media-tech, 2018)- a cheap, portable, and most importantly, recordable music format- that had not been developed for mass consumption in 1970, but in 1990 “was the most popular format in the U.K.” (Rogers, 2013) (before being overtaken by CD sales in in 1992).

In fact, Staub (2010) argues that by 1990 the cassette had changed the entire culture around listening to music, stating that “the democratising effects [of the audio cassette] on the creation and consumption of popular experimental music were ground-breaking. [Due to the cassette’s recordable nature] for the first time in history...amateur musicians and enthusiasts were able to function outside the bounds of the mainstream industry”. The introduction of the Sony Walkman (a portable cassette player) in 1979 mean that for the first time, consumers could listen to music ‘on the go’.

Another arguably ground-breaking method of music consumption was music television. Showcasing performances or videos from popular acts of the time, by 1970 there were dedicated television programmes catering for a variety of musical tastes (such as ‘Soul Train’) as well as regular chart shows that aimed to offer a visual glimpse into the world of pop music.

These chart shows included ‘American Bandstand’ in the USA, and ‘Top of the Pops’ in the U.K., which in 1970 “entered its seventh year, the power of the brand...by now well established”. (Humphries and Blacknell, 2014).

The exciting, almost ‘exotic’ visual appeal of these programmes were an important part of music consumption, particularly for younger people who were now able to see and hear their idols on a regular basis with relative ease. Frith (2002) takes this point even further, stating that “pop music shows…helped articulate a new sort of youth music culture”- evidence that even in 1970, as a music consumption format, music television could be considered just as valid as listening to the radio or buying records.

By 1990, however, the role of music television had changed. The arrival of MTV in 1981 - in fact, the mere concept of a channel created specifically for music consumption- had played a significant part in this, allowing listeners to consume more music (now both visually and aurally) than ever before. (Funk, n.b.)

In conclusion, between 1970 and 1990 music became far more accessible to listeners. The development of portable technologies such as the cassette and the CD, as well as the introduction of dedicated popular music television channels like MTV meant that music went from being something of a finite luxury in 1970, to something that listeners could access invariably by 1990.

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References

BBC News. (2007). How the CD was developed. Retrieved from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6950933.stm

Frith, S. (2002). Look! Here! The uneasy relationship of music and television. Popular Music, 21(3), 277-290. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/853719

Funk, C. (n.b.). A quick and dirty guide to art, music and culture. Retrieved from https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/artandmusicbiographies

Humphries, P. & Blacknell, S. (2014). Top of the Pops 50th anniversary. Pembrokeshire, United Kingdom: McNidder & Grace.

Kullenmark, S. (2012). A qualitative study of music consumption in today’s ubiquitous music landscape (Master’s thesis, Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden). Retrieved from: http://arc.hhs.se/download.aspx?MediumId=1679

Media-Tech. (2018). Compact audio cassette inventor, Lou Ottens guest speaker at the physical media world conference. Retrieved from: www.media-tech.net

Peek, H. (2010). The emergence of the compact disc. IEEE Communications. Retrieved from: https://www.philips.com/c-dam/corporate/research/technologies/

Rogers, J. (2013). Total rewind: 10 key moments in the life of the cassette. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/music

Staub, I. (2010). Redubbing the underground: cassette culture in transition. (Master’s thesis, Wesleyan university). Retrieved from: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu