Sampling: How Technology Disrupted the Music Industry

Sampling in music can be described as a creative revision practice that involves the reuse of segments from existing sound recordings to craft new musical arrangements. It became prevalent with the introduction of inexpensive samplers such as Akai. These inventions, combined with the internet, profoundly transformed music production. The samplers allowed both amateurs and experts to recreate sounds. Artists became empowered to create distinctive musical arrangements by layering, looping, and engineering sounds. The sampling process involves artists taking portions of existing recordings, such as a bar, a note, or a sound, and incorporating them into innovative creations. This encompasses three key stages: the artist selects the recording, extracts the desired section, and then lays it within the new sample. The genius of sampling is artistically contrasting sounds from dissimilar eras and perspectives to create inventive and dramatic musical pieces.

Streaming: How Technology Disrupted the Music Industry

In the pre-digital era, the music industry was dominated by physical formats of vinyl records, cassette tapes, and compact discs (CDs). These were the principal channels for music recording, distribution, and consumption. Vinyl records with iconic album art had been the main method of music distribution. They presented music collectors with a tangible collectible music experience. The analog audio quality, organic sounds, and distinctive flaws added an idiosyncratic appeal for audiophiles and collectors. Artists and record companies turned their records into art pieces by judiciously creating exquisite album artwork and wrappings to communicate their flavor and brand.

The Rise and Globalization of Afrobeats: Lessons for Emerging Markets

The Afrobeat genre emerged around the 1960s and 1970s. Its prominence in Nigeria is credited to eclectic musician Fela Kuti. Afrobeat combines traditional African rhythms with jazz, funk, and highlife. It is deeply rooted in African tradition and is a platform for social and political expression, addressing issues like colonialism, corruption, and inequality. Western African traditional rhythms and indigenous instruments like the djembe and shekere provided Afrobeat with its complex rhythms. Modern elements were introduced through colonial cultural exchanges and African migration, creating more worldly sounds that amalgamate European and American genres.

Copyright Battles in the Age of AI: The Future of Songwriting and Music Publishing Rights

In the music industry, AI tools are machine learning models used to create different musical arrangements and associations based on the information used to teach them. AI learns the features and musical arrangements that audiophiles are expected to find irresistible and engaging. AI can then produce new music by unpredictably combining different musical elements from the information fed to it, in this case, the melodies, notes, vocals of a specific artist(s), composer(s), songwriter(s), or musicians’ productions. AI has given amateurs and professional musicians a conduit for producing professional music at a nominal cost. Additionally, it has given emerging musicians access to professional mastering techniques that previously were out of reach due to associated costs.