HOW WAS MUSIC CREATED AND WHO HAD THE BIGGEST IMPACT IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY TO MAKE IT HOW IT IS TODAY?

WRITTEN BY LILY-BELLE T – YEAR 7

I decided to write my essay about music because I enjoy it so much, and listen to all kinds of music every day, and have done so for a few years now. So to look in to the other side of music, as in not just listening to it, but to find out more about the music industry and how music actually came about it seemed like a good topic for me to write about. In doing so, it gave me the opportunity to broaden my knowledge of music rather than just listening, singing or dancing to it.

Doing a google search the definition for music says that music is the art of arranging sound to create some combination to form, a harmony, a melody, a rhythm or otherwise expressive content. With different melodies comes different instruments. People have created orchestras that have many different instruments of different kinds to make music using notes A note is a representation of a musical sound made from an instrument. My research tells me that It is estimated that there are roughly 1500 different instruments in the entire world. These are put into different ‘families’ to make up the total of 4 families

The families are called woodwind, string, brass and percussion Of course really anything can be used as a instrument, if it makes a sound by tapping it or blowing it or hitting it, you can create music For example a row of ordinary bottles made of any material each filled with different levels of water when tapped with a stick or other implement will produce a sound, each bottle producing a different sound depending on the level of liquid in them Tap each bottle in different sequences and you have produced a piece of music You don’t have to buy an expensive instrument to produce music Natives and some cultures make their instruments from animal skins and bone They will happily create their music with those and enjoy this as much as we do our music.

My research further told me that music developed when humans first started using different noises to express fear or joy

These sounds, along with some of the sounds they heard from animals, such as birds' chirping, led them to make music

When people began to use tools, for instance pound grains, they started to create a rhythm or a regular pattern Music is said toimprove your health and wellbeing. A study from a well-known and educated school showed that relaxing music may lower blood pressure and heart rate after physical exertion It can also improve mood and reduce anxiety through bringing people together, can be an antidote to loneliness and social isolation

So in short, music has the power to culturally, morally, and emotionally influence our society. Therefore, the more intentional we become with the sounds, messages and moods we create and release through our music, the more powerful we will become in making deep positive impacts or of course negative ones Music can be used to get a message across, like in adverts or in films when a mood is trying to be created The background music sets the mood or atmosphere of the scene

Music can excite you or calm you You can drift away into music imagining that you are on the stage singing out to the crowds that have come to see you

No one knows who invented music There is no historical evidence that tells us who sang the first song, whistled the first tune, hummed the first note, made the first beat, wrote the first sheet of music or created the first rhythmic sounds that resembles some sort of tune that could resemble what people know today as music

Through the years music has changed in its format considerably From vinyl records that you played on a turntable which produced the mono sounds and you would listen through one speaker, and only inside a building These then moved forward to being able to be played in stereo. To moving forward to the cassette tape that made listening to music portable. Music was recorded onto a tape and you would play this on a tape machine that had it’s own speaker to listen to the mono tone of the recording, that in time also was able to be listened to in stereo People would have these tape cassette players in their homes and cars When the internet was born it began to change the whole way we started to listen to music, making it far more accessible and readily available with just a click of a button Millions, even maybe billions of tunes at your fingertips literally 24 hours a day 7 days a week In recent years along came the digital era of music. The internet was invented, which besides many other things, it made streaming music from the internet onto your phone, speaker, tv, laptop or iPad etc possible, which in turn enabled us to be able to have music around us whenever we wanted to listen to Our homes filled with music from speakers placed in every room, if we wanted them in every room Full stereo surround sound submersing you deep into the beat So much so that you can be taken away to where ever you want to go. Music has become accessible to everyone and anyone at any time, day or night 24 hours a day The quality of music available to all is now far superior to the mono flat tones of the past Surround sound speakers allowing you to become engulfed in a world of music at its highest quality

We can listen to our chosen music whatever we are doing, long gone are the days when music at home could only be played on the record player or a radio

The music industry consists of the individuals and organisations that make money by writing songs, music, creating music, selling songs, teaching music and supplying music to various avenues Musicians, singers, performers for theatre, films, concerts, TV, radio and so many more Today with music on films, plays, theatre, TV to name but a few, music is everywhere, you just have to listen The morning chorus from the songbirds, the radio, your alarm clock etc are all producing music

Major record labels currently make up over 85% of the music industry, it is the largest market in the world, so my research tells me In the first half of 2022 in the USA the music industry is said to have made over $7 7 billion dollars In the UK, it is said to have made £100 billion dollars for the same year. In digital sales, the UK are said to be the largest in Europe. My research has lead me to find that Michael Jackson, who was known as the king of pop is said to have had the biggest impact on the music industry breaking all records around the world, and setting new ones on his solo journey He started out with his brothers and they were known as the Jackson five However, it was his solo departure from them that really took him to a different level. To even things out just a little, but not really, Madonna is said to be the best selling woman artist within the music industry My research tells me that she sold over 300 million records worldwide Really nowhere near Michael Jackson At the height of her career in the 1980’s she also influenced music with controversial lyrics and videos Both artists are still very well known today, with their music still being played for this generation. Both artists were American, but of course known all over the world by all ages Michael Jackson created the moon walk, a dance that so many have tried to copy, and had a very well-known music video and album called Thriller in 1982 it went 30 times multi-platinum in America This alone is said to have sold over 70 million copies worldwide being the bestselling album ever Sadly Michael Jackson is no longer with us, passing away at the age of fifty years old in 2009 His music still lives on being played regularly even today It is sad that he was unable to enjoy his accomplishment, he had worked so hard to achieve Both of these artists were in the eighties where it is said by some was one of the best eras for music and talented musicians. That of course is a matter of opinion, and I myself would probably tend to disagree with that Although I do enjoy listening to some of the eighties music at times That is one thing to add about music, it is always there It doesn’t matter how much time has passed you can still turn the clock back and listen to music of the past