The Evolution in the Music Industry
In this day and age it’s pretty common to use your smartphone to listen to your favorite music. But it wasn’t always like that. Back in the days, you had to carry around a bunch of cassettes and CD’s. Or even worse: There was a time when you couldn’t even bring music with you.
1877: The gramophone
It already started in 1877. The gramophone, or better known as a record player, was invented by Thomas Edison. Thanks to this robust machine, people were able to enjoy music in the comfort of their living room. Simply by putting a record under a needle, you could listen to your favorite tunes. And surprisingly: The record player is making a glorious comeback, thanks to the vintage-lovers.
1932: The tape player
Problem: The gramophone wasn’t very portable, huge and heavy. A more portable alternative was necessary, so they made a cassette player. This tape player was known as a Walkman, because you could listen to your music on the go. When your tape was finished you could just flip it to start over. Nevertheless, you saw people struggling with broken tape. Meters and meters that went everywhere.
1980: The CD-player
In 1980 the CD-player was born, also known as the Discman. A huge step forward compared to the tape player. However, there were still a couple of disadvantages. The device wasn’t shockproof and there was always the possibility that your CD’s would get scratched up. On top of that, the CD-player wasn’t even that portable and you had to carry around a bunch of CD’s everywhere.
1990: MP3-player
The biggest evolution in the music industry happened in 1990, thanks to the MP3-player. For the first time ever, you could save your music on a small device, without the need of a physical copy. Remember back when you could brag to people if you had half a gig of space on your MP3-player? Luckily: The memory capacity improved fast and big. The MP3-player quickly became an enormous success, especially the Apple iPod.
Now: Smartphone
The sales of the MP3-players are declining, even despite it’s great set of features. Since 2008 you are able to play music through your smartphone. You can either save it on the phone, just as an MP3-player, or you can stream it thanks to a wide variety of streaming services.
To think that it all started with a huge Gramophone …