How we record, play, and listen to music has changed drastically over the last few decades. Much like technology has greatly affected society, it has also affected music. Some say music has changed for the good, while others would argue for the bad. What do you think?

Music through the availability of computers and Smartphones is much easier to achieve than ever before. Of course, we can all thank Apple for their introduction of the iPod and iTunes into our lives. As a result, it is much easier to hear a song on the radio, look it up on iTunes, purchase it, and upload it to our iPods. That’s it. No waiting for the album to arrive at the store; no waiting for the radio to play that song again; no waiting, period. While this is awesome for us, some artists and bands would beg to differ.

Many bands, such as Metallica, dislike the ease in downloading music. Before iTunes really hit big, back in the late 90s, we used to use Napster, a site that we could access to download music…for free. Once this news became widespread, Napster was hit with a lawsuit soon after and later bought out in the early 2000s. While it doesn’t seem that long ago, we as a society have come a long way on how we distribute content on the Web, particularly copyrighted material.

There’s a new music plug-in for Facebook that we will start to see more and more. This allows you to search and listen to music while surfing the Internet. While searching for music, blogs and bands will have a “play” button next to their name or song, which you can click and it will allow you to listen to that particular song or artist. One of the best features is you can listen to the music while surfing and visiting other sites. Of course, with Facebook’s limitless features, you can “share” songs with your friends via messages as well as “post” them on your wall.

So where does music go from here? How much easier can achieving music from your favorite bands get? What is the next music player that we will be using? What is after the iPod? No matter what we are in store for next, it is bound to be some gadget that will just make things even easier…if that’s even possible to imagine. But is easier necessarily better? We think so…but is it really?

© Chris Schmid | Dreamstime.com

As a music fan, you probably have your own genre that you prefer. Your favorite band, your favorite song, or your favorite sound. Everyone that enjoys music has their own preference. However, the well-rounded musician can also appreciate other musical styles and genres.

As a student musician, you are probably still in the process of deciding on a career, and maybe that career is in music. While music may seem like a small industry, or a difficult one, and in part this is true, unless you know already that you are destined to become a rock star, a popular choice is music education. You get all the benefits of becoming a teacher (salary, tenure, summers off, etc.), but you are teaching one of the greatest gifts…music.

However, as a teacher, you must teach music appreciation to your student musicians. Music teachers have very different styles in going about this. Some teachers will teach the basic characteristics of each music genre and decade. For example, Baroque, classical, jazz, Baroque, right up through 50s rock and roll, the 60s “free love” movement, and into Disco and 80s hair bands. While this is all well and good, you always have the luxury of incorporating music through, well, music. You could incorporate old rock and roll songs into choral sections, or write out famous jazz pieces for your students to play, or even let them study and write reports on their favorite musicians and why. The possibilities are endless.

All in all, whether you decide to become a teacher, or become a solo artist, a music therapist, or you really become a famous rock star (“because we all just wanna be big rock stars”, right?), music appreciation is key. A well-rounded and intelligent musician should be able to discuss and appreciate music of all forms. It doesn’t mean you actually have to like it, because let’s face it, a lot of music out there is, well, questionable…but you should be able to appreciate it and all its forms.

Finally, deciding on a music career is indeed tough. However, no matter which career you choose, it is no doubt that as a student musician and artist, you will incorporate your talent and your love for music and music appreciation in your musical “Journey”.

© Jean Schweitzer | Dreamstime.com