Listening To The Future

While there are select artists that stay at the top of the charts for quite some time, the songs that make up the top ten change constantly. A new album is dropped, a single or two shoots up on the charts and then slowly disappears, getting replaced by the latest radio hit.

In order to keep with this upward trend and consistently release music with an edge over its predecessors, the music industry turns to controversy, shock value, celebrity branding and— most notably—technology.

However, the answer to how we combine technological innovation with the natural, artistic value of music both effectively and appropriately is largely debated.

“Music’s always going to change and that’s what we hope,” said David Remedios, head of the sound design department at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts. “We don’t want music to become a museum piece. The technology can certainly open up new possibilities.”

Taking into account current bands with a more old-school sound to them, the last thing listeners want is for music to become stagnant. The Beatles and Queen will always retain their legacies and reputations, but the styles, lyricism and sounds used in music have to keep changing in order to attract followings—and technological innovations can propel this.

“I rely on digital technology and virtual instruments, virtual samplers, synthesizers,” said Remedios. “In terms of the arranging and the nuts and bolts—knocking out the notes—I do that all digitally now.”

There are unthinkable gaps in music that technology can seemingly fill. We are no longer restricted to standard musical instruments and singing voices. The gradual rise of EDM, dubstep and electronic music proves this. Using solely technology to generate music has become an art form and a separate music genre.

Technology expands the library of sounds we choose from, allowing composers and artists to construct melodies that the general public have never heard, potentially creating new subgenres and niches.

The expansionary effects of technology not only cater to the music itself, but also to the listening experience.

During Coachella in 2012, a hologram of the late rapper Tupac was broadcasted for the audience. A visual effects studio brought the artist to life for a memorable posthumous performance.

Similarly, the 52nd Super Bowl halftime show incorporated a Prince projection. Both performances foreshadow what is to come in regard to technology for concert-goers. Suddenly, an artist’s passing does not signify a clear end to his or her music career; with technology’s assistance, famous artists are immortalized.

Not only is technology used to bring life to artists who have passed, but DJ’s are using it to engage with their listeners.

Dan McCarthy, a professional DJ and owner of Boston DJ, described a new program his company is planning on using, particularly for nightclubs, called “Ask the DJ.”

“I can put the URL up on the screen and so, a regular could have that on their phone and have direct access,” he said. “It gives everyone’s phone direct access and shows me their requests.”

In this sense, technology makes music more user-friendly and expedient. The barrier between artist and fan deteriorates with every new software, program, app or device.

One medium that is significantly connecting fans with their favorite singers and bands is social media. “All the resources are pretty much on the internet, so people are more self-reliant and able to do things themselves,” said Danielle Leonard, the digital asset manager at Topshelf Records. “I think the democratization of music is awesome and it shouldn’t be restricted only to the people that have lots of money.”

Social media has become both increasingly prevalent and advanced as the years go on. It does more than connect people—nowadays, it advances careers. Social media has even crept into streaming services, most notably Spotify. The popular digital music market lets people create profiles, add friends, share music and conjoin it with their Facebook and Twitter accounts.

“I know that there are a lot of artists that have gotten to where they are through social media and not going the traditional route,” said McCarthy.

Many artists are now their own micro-managers. Music is shared at no additional cost and fan bases are built through smart social-media use, doing away with the need for a major label and blurring the correlation between fame and money in the music industry.

While these innovations and internet resources may open the door to possibility, they can also overshadow and overcomplicate the true meaning of music.

Social media leaves opportunity for financial growth—but not necessarily for the humble artist. Instead of content being sorted based on publish time, most programs now sort based on relevancy, forcing many people and companies who want to extend their reach, musicians included, to pay for advertisements.

“I love Spotify, but I think the artist will someday rise up and come up with a new way to share their music with fans,” said McCarthy.

The actual compensation musicians receive is a gray area. Revenue from advertisements and listeners is definitively paid out to the program the artist used and any label the artist is under, but payment to the actual artist can be quite slim.

“…the technology offers so many possibilities that you can lose the force with the trees sometimes,” Remedios said. “You can do so much with it that if you don’t have a clear idea of what you’re trying to say with your music, then you can get distracted or you can overburden it with stuff.”

Technology, like anything else, is best exercised in moderation. If any sound is available at the click of a button, even human singing voices, then the need for physical musicians diminishes. Music labels can instead work with sound engineers, developing digitized voices and relying on holograms for performances.

“It’s helped me as a composer, but that’s not to say that I can’t just pick up my guitar and create something of equal artistic value,” Remedios said.

Moreover, watching an artist perform live, whether it be at a sold-out arena or a small open-mic venue, has its own charm. Part of that appeal is the unpredictability of the live-concert experience: predicting who will open the show, what song will be performed next and how the artist will sound compared to their studio recording. The other component is the intimacy an artist has with his or her listeners while performing live—something that technology could never recreate.

Take the resurgence of vinyl records. Listeners are willingly paying for large plastic discs and bulky record players rather than simply downloading or streaming that same content on their smartphones. Many go the vinyl route because of nostalgia’s pull, wanting to listen to their favorite old-school artists in its original forum. Others are drawn by the hipster, vintage aesthetic of owning a record player and having a collection of eye-catching vinyl records. However, the biggest gain is the distinctive sound quality they possess. While sound quality is subjective, the vinyl revival shows that these larger discs are well-worth the extra space.

This points to a general consensus: technology’s shortcomings are linked to its overuse. We don’t need to avoid it, but we shouldn’t use it in excess either.

“Essentially, all [technology] is is a means to an end, a tool,” said Remedios.

If used correctly, it can be an extremely helpful “tool” for the average musician.

McCarthy, who considers himself a “fly-bythe-seat-of-your-pants DJ,” said that he reacts to “what the audience is feeling,” even if that means changing the song at the last minute.

“With five seconds left on the song that is playing, I’m not afraid to switch songs—and that’s what the technology is doing for me now,” he said.

Technology changed his ability to DJ by making it more convenient and expedient, but it didn’t jeopardize the artistic value of what he does.

“It’s definitely not going to hurt,” Leonard said about social media usage for musicians. However, “it depends on the band,” and she has seen acts reach success both with and without social media’s assistance.

Therefore, technology is neither the antagonist nor the hero; instead, it is a potential assistant and reliable complement to what music really is: art.

“In the end, art is about what you are trying to say with your voice and if you have technological tools to assist that and you can utilize them effectively, all the better,” Remedios said. “But you can still write a piece of music, sitting on a piano and writing stuff down on a piece of paper—you don’t need all these tools.”

“I know that there are a lot of artists that have gotten to where they are through social media and not going the traditional route.”

by Karissa Perry photography by Eva Vidan design by Charlotte Kershaw