While happily strolling down the streets with a pair of earphones on, listening to some crazy hip hop beats, have you ever stopped to realize how far we’ve come? We don’t mean how far you’ve walked, no. We are talking about the evolution of the consumption of music. Such heavy words, right? Let us make this more straightforward for you to understand, just like almost every activity has been made more simplistic by technology.
Can you imagine the time when listening to songs was restricted only to what the person in front of you would sing? And Lord save us if he/she turned out to be a bad singer with worse songs. Today, thanks to miraculous devices known as smartphones and a man’s new best friend known as Flutin and other music apps, you can now listen to what an aspiring artist in his cooped-up apartment somewhere in Brazil or Spain has composed. It’s crazy.
Well, in this article, we are going to take a closer look at this crazy evolution of the way people listen to music.
The 16th century – When music used to be a royal affair
Music? A royal, exclusive affair? That’s right. Imagine yourself living during the era of Mughals and Roman emperors. Better yet, imagine yourself as a Mughal king. You would hire the best musicians available, sit on a royal throne, and enjoy live performances, sometimes along with beautiful dance pieces, meant exclusively for your pleasure and entertainment while savouring a goblet of red wine. Seems exciting, right? Well not so much if you are a councilman or an ordinary man who may or may not get to witness this “royal affair”.
The late 1800s – The beginning of an impending revolution
The first device to record and play songs was invented by Thomas Edison in 1877 – the phonograph. However, the sound quality was beyond poor and each recording could only be heard once. Frustrating, right? Then came the gramophone. This was the first-ever device to record on flat disks rather than cylinders. However, due to lack of electricity, it had to be winded up to use it. Next in line was the graphophone, which used wax cylinders to record music and allowed a single piece to be played several times. But (yes, there was always a catch in those days), each cylinder required to be recorded separately. So, if you wanted to listen to a particular piece, you had to reproduce and record it several times. Hang in there. We promise you, it only gets better.
The early 1900s – The golden age of radio
Radio was initially used to broadcast the news, sports, lectures, weather reports, stories, etc. Then, someday some blessed people or station decided to air music on the radio and the rest is history. May God bless their souls!
The late 1900s – When music became portable
Remember those rectangular things with two circles in the middle that had a magnetic reel inside? Yes, those were cassette tapes which meant a big deal to every 90’s kid. We would stick it in a cassette player and enjoy the latest Bollywood songs in the best quality that was around then and feel magnanimous. This was indeed the beginning of another revolution in the consumption of music.
The early 2000s – When circle became our favourite shape
Ah! The discs with rainbows on them that also played music with the option to watch videos along with it. Yes, we are talking about CDs and DVDs (we are sure that you know the full form, it’s not a computer lesson after all). With artists increasingly putting their music on CDs and DVDs and releasing them in the market, their popularity exploded. Along with CDs and DVDs, several other devices were introduced during this time like Mp3 players, iPods, etc. All these mediums made music readily available and easily portable.
And now we talk about today!
Through all this time, have you realized how music has become increasingly accessible, affordable and portable over the years? Well, it’s at its peak now. With almost everyone having a smartphone and access to the internet, listening to music is just a few clicks away. And with online streaming services, you don’t even have to go through the trouble of downloading music anymore. Our app, known as Flutin, does precisely that. All you need to do is install the app. The whole world of music is literally at your fingertips. Now it seems mind-blowing, right? Lay back, install Flutin and listen to your favourite genre while you discover how much crazier it all can get.