RIM 3000 TEST #3

Kool Herc

(Clive Campbell) - first DJ to popularize mixing between two turntables.

Grandmaster Flash

(Joseph Sadler) - becomes the best known DJ of the time, with hit records with the Furious Five.

Afrika Bambaataa

(Kevin Donovan) - Master of the "breakbeat"

Grunge

-Although punk rock did not experience a major commercial breakthrough in the 70s or 80s (but the more accessible "new wave" did), the early 90s experienced a seismic shift in what constituted rock music after the MTV-driven 1980s. -The so-called "Grunge Movement" (most bands hated being called this, seeing it as a cheap marketing gimmick) was centered in Seattle. -Musically it's a mix of punk and 70s heavy metal (especially the sludgy tempos of Black Sabbath). The Melvins, Mudhoney, Soundgarden, Tad Emergence of grunge meant the beginning of the end for many 80s "hair metal" bands

Influence of Reggae on American Pop

-1972 - Paul Simon (of Simon and Garfunkel) has a huge hit with "Mother and Child Reunion," more ska than roots reggae influenced. -1974 - Eric Clapton has a #1 hit single "I Shot the Sheriff" (a cover of a Bob Marley song) -Reggae strongly influences hip-hop: Jamaican "toasters" (like a rap MC) toast (early freestyle rapping) over backing tracks played by popular Jamaican DJs who ran sound systems.

CBGBs

-1975-The New York punk scene develops around a Bowery club (which stood for Country, Bluegrass, and Blues) opened by Hilly Kristal (1931-2007) in 1973. Patti Smith, Blondie, the Ramones, and Talking Heads are a handful of the important early punk bands to play there. Priced out of their location CBGBs closed in 2006.

M.C. Hammer

-1990/91 marks the beginning of the "mainstreaming" of rap/hip-hop -No longer considered a "fad" by major label executives, this marks the beginning of the genre's emergence as rock's commercial equal. -MC Hammer's Please Hammer (1990) sells 10 million copies and is the number 1 album in US for 21 weeks. -Hammer becomes the most ubiquitous presence in rap and the rapper of choice for Madison Avenue -He is decried as a "sellout" and "Uncle Tom" by hardcore/gangsta rappers who see Hammer as striving too hard to please white executives and audiences. -But now, with rap artists routinely working in film and TV (Ice Cube and Ice T), rap's cross promotional potential starts with the popularity of Hammer.

MP3 Timeline

-1993 - Santa Cruz, CA: UC Santa Cruz students Jeff Patterson and Rob Lord, while trolling the Net, discover the Xing Player, software that played compressed music files. -They open IUMA - Internet Underground Music Archive. For $240/year any band could post a song, pictures, and sell merchandise on the site. -1995 - Rob Glaser, former Microsoft VP, unveils RealAudio. Streaming media becomes a reality for computer owners. -1997 - Michael Robertson launches MP3.com. Site quickly becomes the gathering post for those interested in online music. -June 1999 - Shawn Fanning, wanting an easier way to find and trade music online, launches NAPSTER.

Itunes/ The iPod

-2001 - Apple introduces the iPod. -2003 - Apple opens the iTunes Store. Within 2 years it commands 70% of the legal downloading market and become the #1 music retailer in the U.S. -2010 - Apple announces that over 10 billion tracks have been downloaded through the iTunes Store. -The demands of consumers had changed from the album to the single. Technology had brought us into the 21st century, but aesthetically we were going back to the early days of rock'n'roll in the 1950s.

MTV

-A by-product of the deregulation of the cable industry, it begins programming in 1981. -Fundamentally changed the way the music industry operated, and quickly became the preferred method for launching new acts and promoting established acts. -its spin-off station VH-1 worked synergistically with radio and other media to boost record sales and create a new generation of superstars. -The music video is no longer simply a means of advertising, it becomes a form of commercial art unto itself.

Nevermind by Nirvana

-After leaving Sub Pop Nirvana signed with major label DGC in 1991. -Released in September, 1991, the initial pressing (only 50,000 copies) sold out in days. -By the January of 1992, Nevermind had replaced Michael Jackson's Dangerous as the #1 record in the US and was selling an average of 300,000 copies/week. -It stayed on the Billboard LP charts for 5 years, selling more than 10 million copies. -Ironically, it was helped by MTV, and one of the most iconic rock music videos ever produced, "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

Music Industry crash of early 80's

-After rapid expansion and grow (and increasing profits) throughout the 70s, profits from the sale of recorded music bottomed out in 1982 ($4.6 billion) down half a billion for the industry's peak year of 1978 ($5.1 billion). -Major labels - now part of huge transnational corporations - trimmed staff, cut back expenses, signed fewer new acts, and raised the prices of LP's and cassettes.

Punk Rock (UK): Ideology

-Anti-fashion that becomes very fashion consciousness -Politically oriented (somewhat) -Explicitly working class - even when the participants weren't working class -British punks love reggae in a way that American punks didn't. -Influenced by early/mid 70s Glam Rock (early David Bowie, T. Rex, Mott the Hoople, the Sweet, Slade) and Pub Rock (a back-to-basics reaction to prog rock) bands like Dr. Feelgood and Ducks Deluxe.

CD sales in the late 90s/early 2000s

-Are still happening in the early 2000s, some of it due to the popularity of the boy bands of the mid-to-late-90s, some of it due to newer, younger, hip-hop acts (e.g., Eminem, 50 Cent).

The American Underground

-As is often the case, although MTV and its focus on mainstream rock/pop music was the engine driving the major record labels, there was also a thriving underground ("college rock") scene during the 80s. -Mostly coming out of the 70s punk era, a number of independent labels sprang up in major cities and in college towns with large universities and student-led music scenes. -SST, Twin/Tone, Ace of Hearts, Dischord -It was an ethos known as DIY (Do It Yourself), because many major labels were uninterested in signing these bands, they created their own scene and economic model.

Pearl Jam

-As was the case with Nirvana, Pearl Jam was helped by MTV and videos like "Alive" and "Jeremy." -Their videos were not simply performance clips, but more arty, conceptual videos.

90s mainstream rock

-But the biggest selling rock LPs of the 90s were being recorded by bands such as: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Green Day (Dookie, 1994), Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, the Breeders, Alanis Morrisette, and Hootie and the Blowfish. -The mid-90s is also the beginning of the "jam band" era with the Dave Matthews Band and Phish becoming huge concert draws despite not selling enormous amounts of records - the Grateful Dead model.

BDS

-Computer operated tracking systems monitoring 1,100 radio stations in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. -Computers "listens" to radio stations 24/7. -Each BDS monitor store thousands of unique electronic "fingerprints" created to identify the songs. -Once a pattern has been recognized BDS identifies the exact time, date and station of that play.

Digital Recording

-Digital was seen as "cold," a reference to the process of disassembling music into millions of bits. But, digital was the future and there was no going back. -Digital technology spawned new (and more affordable) devices for producing and manipulating sound - drum machines, digital samplers, and MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) which standardized technology to let equipment made by different manufacturers "talk" to one another.

Gangsta

-Emerges from the South Central Los Angeles neighborhood of Compton. This version of rap, influenced by the politics of Public Enemy, was more violent, darker, angrier. It was also misogynistic and homophobic (-1987--Ice-T records the song "Colors" used in a film about the gang vs. police violence in South Central. -1989—N.W.A. releases Straight Outta Compton (1989) one of the first recordings to deal with the brutality and violence of urban street life. Prior to touring to promoted the LP it sold 750,000 copies in its first few weeks of release. -Despite the "non-mainstream" nature of much gangsta rap, it sells very well to young audiences both black and white. -The problem with this is that, to many whites, gangsta's popularity, accidentally reinforced negative stereotypes about black masculinity. But some recordings, affiliated with gangsta sell big.)

The Sex Pistols

-Formed in 1975: Johnny Lydon (vocals), Steve Jones (guitar), Glen Matlock (bass, 1975-77, 1996-now), Sid Vicious (John Simon Ritchie, bass 1977-78, d. 1979 age 22), Paul Cook (drums). -Managed by clothing store owner (who also sold sexual fetish wear) Malcolm McLaren. -Specializing in chaos and outrage, they were famous for being dropped by the major labels that signed them. A&M gave them an advance of over $200,000 only to drop them a week later. -Not helping things was a TV appearance in England where Steve Jones, who was drunk, cursed out the host. -The second single, "God Save the Queen" is banned on British radio. It still goes #2 on the British pop charts

Music Industry Crash (Reasons)

-The Reagan administration's economic policies had brought about a recession. -New forms of entertainment: home video, cable TV, and video games were cutting into music sales. -The decline of disco (which had provided an economic boost in the mid-to-late 70s). -An increase in illegal copying of music on cassette decks. -In 1984, sales of prerecorded cassettes (thanks to the popularity of the Sony Walkman) surpassed sales of vinyl LPs for the first time in history.

"CNN for Black Folk"

-Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five politicize rap with the release of "The Message" (1982). -Afrika Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force release "Planet Rock" (1982) a record influenced by European synth-pop, specifically German band Kraftwerk. -Jazz musician Herbie Hancock releases "Rock It" (1983) featuring Grand Mixer DXT on turntables. -The song is featured on the Grammys. -Mid-80s rap becomes more political with releases by Run-DMC, Public Enemy, KRS-One (with Scott LaRock) -Beastie Boys - white rappers with credibility among African American audiences and rappers. Licensed to Ill (1986) sells 7 million -80s rap/rock crossover: Blondie, "Rapture," Run-DMC & Aerosmith, "Walk This Way," and Anthrax & Public Enemy, "Bring the Noise"

Vanilla Ice

-Hated way more than MC Hammer was Robert Van Winkle, whose debut LP To The Extreme released in 1990 was the #1 record in the U.S. for 16 weeks, selling 7 million copies. -Ice was seen as the worst case scenario of commercialized rap - inauthentic, another instance of a less talented white performer "making a living off the fruits of black creativity." -Despite selling millions of records, the career's of Hammer and Ice ended quickly, both becoming pop music punch lines.

Patti Smith's Horses (1975)

-Important early US punk LPs

Suge Knight, Sean Combs, Tupac, Biggie

-In the West there was Marion "Suge" Knight who ran the Los Angeles based label Death Row Records, whose biggest star was Tupac Shakur. -On the East Coast there was Sean Combs (aka, Puff Daddy, P. Diddy) the CEO of New York-based indie label Bad Boy Records, whose biggest (no pun intended) artist was the Notorious B.I.G. (aka Biggie Smalls, Christopher Wallace). -By the end of 1997, both Biggie and Tupac were dead.. Snoop Dogg who had originally signed to Death Row, left the label fearing for his life.

East Coast vs. West Coast

-In the mid-1990s there were violent conflicts between West Coast and East Coast rappers. -Although gangsta rhetoric had boosted the sale of recordings, and was used as a means of authenticating rap and rappers.. There were real-life consequences to working in this world.

Problems with MTV

-Initially the network programmed videos like and AOR rock station - meaning, no African Americans. -The direction of the network was defined by bands identified with the "Second British Invasion" - e.g., Eurythmics, Adam Ant, Flock of Seagulls, Culture Club, Duran Duran. -In July 1983, 18 of the singles in Billboard's Top-40 chart were by British bands. -By the mid-1980s the impact of MTV had been felt throughout the music industry.

Nirvana

-Kurt Cobain (guitar, 1967-1994), Krist Noveselic (bass, b. 1965), Dave Grohl (drums, b. 1969), Pat Smear (guitar, b. 1959). Grohl joined the band in 1991, Smear in 1993. -Their debut LP Bleach (1989), released on the Seattle-based indie label Sub Pop, was recorded for $600 and was a cult hit, but it was Nevermind (1991) that made them one of the world's biggest rock band by the end of 1992.

YouTube

-Launched in 2005, YouTube had its first viral music video with OK Go's "A Million Ways" featuring the band dancing on treadmill machines. A video that cost $5 to make. It was viewed 9 million times. But, a viral video doesn't always turn into sales - it was proof, however, that YouTube was a necessary part of an artist's overall marketing/promotion strategy. -2006 - Warner Music makes a deal with YouTube to make its entire music video catalog available online. Not long after Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock.

80s Bands

-Los Angeles: Black Flag, the Minutemen, X, the Germs, the Circle Jerks, the Blasters, the Flesh Eaters, the Weirdos, and the Go-Gos. -Athens, GA: B-52s, R.E.M, Pylon -Minneapolis, MN: Husker Du, the Replacements, Soul Asylum -Boston: Mission of Burma, the Neighborhoods, the Lyres, the Real Kids -New York: Sonic Youth -Washington, DC: Minor Threat, Fugazi, the Bad Brains -Some of these bands went on to major labels: (Sonic Youth, Replacements, X, Husker Du, B-52s, R.E.M., the Go-Gos) and were successful, but only the Go-Gos and R.E.M. became popular with mainstream audiences.

Malcolm McLaren

-The Sex Pistols were managed by this clothing store owner (who also sold sexual fetish wear).

Napster (Timeline 2)

-May 5, 2000: U.S. District Court judge Marilyn Hall Patel rules that Napster does not qualify for "safe harbor" status under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). -February 12, 2001: The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules that Napster must immediately stop trading copyrighted material. -February 20, 2001: Napster offers a $1 billion settlement if the record companies drop their suit. The offer is rejected two days later. -July 12, 2001: Judge Patel orders Napster to remain offline until it can show that it blocks the distribution of copyrighted works. Metallica and Dr. Dre settle their legal disputes with Napster.

Digital samplers

-Mirage keyboard sampler stored prerecorded and synthesized sounds -Digital sequencers appear at this time too - sequencers record musical data rather than sound and create repeated sound sequences (loops)

Punk Rock (US)

-Musicaly Influenced by Countless 60s garage rock bands (e.g. the Seeds, the Kingsmen, 13th Floor Elevators, the Standells) as well as the Stooges, MC5, New York Dolls, Velvet Underground, and British Invasion rock (especially the Who and the Kinks)

(early) rap and hip-hop

-Rap emerges in the mid-1970s as part of a cultural complex known as Hip-Hop. -Hip-hop incorporated influences from African American, Puerto Rican, and Caribbean American youth culture in New York City. -Hip-Hop culture included graffiti art, breakdancing, music, dress, and speech Geographically centered in the Bronx. -Rap was, in part, a rejection of mainstream dance music by young black and Puerto Rican listeners, but it was also shaped by DJs. -All of them played at block parties, high school gyms, dance clubs and community centers in the Bronx and Harlem.

Sugar Hill Gang

-Rap was still mostly a regional musical phenomenon until the release of "Rapper's Delight" on the independent label Sugar Hill in 1979. It introduces rap music to the world. -The song used the rhythm track for the Chic hit "Good Times." Although it wasn't sampled (studio musicians were hired to play it) the label was sued by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards (composers of the song) for a writing credit (they won).

James Brown

-Repetitive, riff-based instrumental style focused on rhythm rather than harmony. -Songs often featured complex, interlocking polyrhythms - showing pronounced African influence. -De-emphasizing harmony made Brown's music seem less "Western." -Especially in his 70s music, Brown was a funk "minimalist" - hypnotic, long tracks with few changes.

Musical elements of rap

-Sampling -Focus on rhythm rather than melody -Percussive vocalizing -Scratching="The distinctive sound of scratching became an important part of the sonic palette of hip-hop music - even in the 1990s, after digital sampling had largely replaced turntables as a means of creating the musical textures and grooves on rap records, producers frequently used these sounds as a way of signaling a connection to the old school origins of hip-hop."

Why the Music Industry loved CDs

-Simple -- $$$$. -The cost of manufacturing a CD was about the same as a vinyl LP (a little over $1). But whereas LPs sold for $7-$8, CDs sold for $13-$15 (initially). Therefore, the profit margins for the labels were greater. Record labels were making a killing selling back catalog to boomers. Trouble was, in the early days, many catalog CDs were simply vinyl copies (not master tapes) transferred to CD -- a much cheaper process for the labels. -They sounded terrible. Although most consumers didn't care.

Chris Blackwell

-Started Island Records in 1958. -In 1972, launches the career of Jimmy Cliff and signs Bob Marley to Island, lending Marley the money to open his own recording studio, Tuff Gong, in Kingston. -In the 70s-80s Island became one of the most successful independent rock labels in the world

Digital Technology

-The 1980s marks the rise of technologies that would fundamentally change the way music was recorded and the way consumers heard music. -Digital tape recorders, compacts discs, synths, samplers, and drum machines became central to the creation of music.

1990s and the new mainstream

-The 90s meant yet another period of adjustment for the music industry. A new generation - so-called "Generation X" were now displacing baby boomers as the primary consumers of popular music in the 90s. -Born after hippie era of "free love" a generation of horny teens facing the reality of AIDS -First generation that will not live better than their parents -Children of divorce and domestic conflict, reported cases of child abuse at an all time high. -Gen Xers had been raised on classic rock, punk, rap. As the first generation to have grown up with MTV, a song (or artist) was either on MTV - and thus successful - or it wasn't. -This led to a schism between artists who were MTV-friendly, and those who weren't (largely alternative rock and hip-hop). -This meant that not being on MTV was a sign of artistic integrity.

MPEG Technology

-The MPEG file, a digital file compression algorithm allowed sound files to be squeezed to as little as one-twelfth of its original size. This allowed for music to be disseminated on the Internet - a technological precondition for the emergence of the huge market in downloads and for the emergence of personal digital music players - the iPod. -The introduction of MPEG technology and its descendant the MP3 audio encoding format - set off the war between entertainment corporations and small scale entrepreneurs (a digital era majors v. indies conflict).

Why was MTV so popular?

-The election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 led a new era of political conservatism. The drinking age, which states had lowered to 18 in the early 70s - was raised back to 21. Meaning people under 21 could no longer attend venues serving alcohol to see bands. -Baby boomers were in their 30s, settling down, starting families and were increasingly less likely to spend nights in bars listening to bands. -The point being that these audiences wanted access to music and MTV provided that - without leaving home.

Funk

-The term "funky" probably derives from central African BaKongo term "funki," meaning "healthy sweat," especially sweat as the result of sexual activity. -Early 1970s - funk was the term used to describe music with strong dance-oriented rhythms, call-and-response vocals, and repeated, rhythmically interlocking patterns. -Most funk bands echoed the instrumentation and style of James Brown's soul hits of the 1960s.

Shawn Fanning

-a 19-year-old student at Northeastern University (in Boston) when he developed Napster - a software program that allowed computer users to share files.

Synthesizers

-by the mid-70s were smaller, more affordable (despite certain limitations) -Minimoog (could only play one pitch at a time) -Arp (could play simple chords) -Synclavier - Expensive digital synthesizer -Prophet 5 - analog synth that incorporated digital technology, including ability to store sample sound

The Clash

-debut (released April, 1977 in UK, not released in the US until 1979). -Formed in 1976: Joe Strummer (vocals/gtr, 1952-2002), Mick Jones (vocals/gtr), Paul Simonon (bass/vocals), Topper Headon (drums) -They become British punk's most commercially successful band and by the early 1980s became one of the most popular rock bands (punk or otherwise) in the world. With hit records and MTV videos. -Outspokenly political, the band often aligned itself with leftist (if not radical) political causes/groups.

SOUNDSCAN

-developed by Mike Shalett -Tracks sales of music and music video products in U.S. and Canada -Collects POINT OF SALE (POS) information from 14,000 retail and mass merchandise locations -1991 - Billboard begins using Soundscan data to compile sales charts -Huge shake-up in Billboard's Top-200 album charts. Beginning of the rap, country, and grunge dominance of the charts. Grunge is gone, country has fallen way off, but rap still sells huge numbers.

Bob Marley

-reggae's international ambassador and the genre's most popular performer. Devout Rastafarian A national hero in Jamaica (and a major political force) Marley was intensely charismatic and reggae's most effective international ambassador. His songs of rebellion and faith - rooted in rastafarianism - found a worldwide audience After his death, reggae's popularity diminishes in the US, but remains very popular in the UK.

Rap and Hip-Hop in the early 90s

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UPC

1979 - Introduction of UNIVERSAL PRODUCT CODE. Also known as BAR CODE it contains information regarding: label, specific selection, and configuration

MP3s

1987 - Erlangen, Germany: Professor Dieter Seitzer creates a "CODEC" (compression/decompression algorithm) used to shrink video files to a manageable size for use with multimedia. The formal name of the codec was: ISO-MPEG Audio Layer—3, shortened to MP3.

Compact Discs

Consumer sales start in 1983. -Sound encoded on the disc is read by a laser beam (no needle wear!) and the sales pitch to leave vinyl for CDs was that you have "perfect sound forever." -By 1988, sales of CDs surpassed those of vinyl for the first time. -The CD revolution was partly manufactured by the major labels who cut way back on vinyl production as a means of "encouraging" consumers to make the transition to the new digital technology. -Which many boomers did - re-purchasing their entire vinyl collections on CD.

Important early UK punk LPs: The Damned

Damned Damned Damned (February 1977). First punk LP released in the UK.

Punk Rock (US): Ideology

Felt that hippie culture was a failure -Hated the corporatized sound of AOR rock bands (and rock radio) -Dismissed the notion that you need to be a skilled musician to play rock music. Punk bands were driven by attitude not aptitude -Thought progressive and/or jazz rock was useless -Hated the idea of rock bands as royalty and that rock gigs had turned into huge, bloated, expensive arena extravaganzas -Anti-fashion, anti-style -Not overtly political -Not noticeably blues-based

Napster (timeline)

May, 1999: Napster goes live. -December 7, 1999: The Recording Industry Association of America files a suit charging Napster with copyright infringement. -April 13, 2000: Metallica files suit against Napster for violating the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). May 3, 2000: Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich producers a list of 335,000 Napster user who have illegally downloaded and shared copyrighted music.

Drum Machines

Roland 808, Linn LM1 used drum pads that, when struck, triggered samples sounds

Digital recording

Samples sound waves and breaks them down into a stream of numbers

Music industry changes in the new millennium

There has been more change in the music industry -In the last 15 years than there was in the previous 50. -In the early 21st century, the Internet and other technological and cultural innovations presented the music business with challenges and opportunities. -There is no question that music and creativity will survive, the form in which they will be expressed remains in flux.

Ramones debut (1976)

Total recording cost: $6,400

Analog recording

transforms sound wave energy into physical imprints