Mass Media Makes Music Monotonous

Mass Media Makes Music Monotonous

Just look at the iPod.   A small, portable rectangle that can hold 30,000 songs is a lot easier to carry around than a CD player and a case of 500 CDs.   This invention allows everyone to have thousands of songs at the touch of a button.   Technology and its availability to the general public has changed the way mass media influences music, especially rock.   Regrettably, large availability and headphones have wrecked the individuality of musicians.
Over time, technological advancements have provided our society with many objects that help us communicate worldwide.   Ray Hiebert calculated that an estimated 3,256 hours a year are spent surrounded by media.   In 1996, five major companies spent approximately $66.7 billion in advertising expenses alone, says Ray Elliot. One may see this as an opportunity to quickly spread popularity and earn more money for bands, but it is actually hurtful.   This far-reaching music is now readily available for illegal downloading from hundreds of websites which hurts, not only the financial careers of musicians and producers, but the creativity of musicians.   Musical piracy is leaving bands with no other choice but to create single hit songs, rather than whole albums.   Musicians have parables to portray to their audience that may be complex and lengthy.   However, since people are downloading only single songs off of albums now, artists are limited in what they can write in about four minutes of a song.   Single songs take away from the larger story being told, and lyrical meaning is lost in the process.   This destroys the uniqueness and creativity between different rock songs and bands, creating a monotonous genre.   Headphones are also creating a brick wall between adolescent interaction.   People may be listening to the same music, but other people surrounding them will never know because the earphones are secluding individuals and are not allowing them to discuss with others their musical interests. This separation allows the media to...