Throughout the times music has advanced in many different forms, evolved into unique styles and altered societal behaviors for both the good and the bad. Developments from the phonograph to the radio and now the IPod have made it extremely easy for listeners to become more engaged in their music. Each new development has led society to listen to music in a different way, thus changing the way we perceive music and the role that it plays in our lives.
The advent of the technological era in the 1990’s has created a global marketplace where individuals have access to all different kinds of audio files at any time. With the world becoming more and more commercialized, countless numbers of corporations are now involved in the music and recording industries. The largest of them all is Apple. Known as an innovative corporation, Apple has been controlling the way most people listen and interact with the audio world since its creation of the iPod.
After the release date of the IPod, November 10, 2001, listening to your favorite music became easier than ever before. The main goal Apple was shooting for when creating the personal digital device was to create an extremely simple user interface and sleek design many users would appreciate. Many people who were walking around with a Walkman, or seemed uninterested in owning a digital MP3 device now own an IPod. The product line has grown so large that businesses and educational institutions accept it as a useful tool. For example, a college student is now able to simply download a lecture or audiobook from iTunes University straight to the device within minutes, making it extremely convenient to study effectively on a busy day.
Since the first generation of the iPod, there have been constant developments within the device line itself. The creation of applications for the iPod allowed people to have their entire personal life connected onto one device for the first time. The accessibility to weather, notes, music, maps, clocks, YouTube, news, and iBook make the iPod a machine of convenience.
The greatest compliment for the iPod is Apples program designed solely to be used in conjunction with the device, iTunes. Today’s largest media player computer program can be used for downloading, saving, and organizing all of ones digital files on a personal computer. iTunes has changed the way music is distributed and marketed throughout the world. Through media management the online store gives the everyday consumer access to the most popular or “mainstream” music, music videos, movies, television shows, and books. Now, most of the sales and fame music artists’ make are through this program. Promoting new albums on the headline of the main page and having a Top 100 lists has changed the way music is advertised and purchased. The iTunes program is extremely successful because it is a fast and easy way for customers to purchase everything they wanted in one place and have it easily transferred onto the portable iPod.
By September 2012, Apple had sold a total of 350 million iPods, making this one of the most widely used devices around the globe. Distribution of the product has grown worldwide, so now people on every continent have access to the phenomenon. As growth for the device becomes more popular, so do other products that can be used compatibly with it. Numerous technology companies have developed programs, and music players for sharing music. Anywhere you go, one can find a device that is compatible with the iPod. In most cars today, there is the availability of an iPod adapter for one to listen to their music own personal playlists in the car, giving the radio less attention and negatively affecting their business. A recent innovative way Apple has been able to keep the world connected through a single device is from the launch of the iPhone. Now with all the benefits of the iPod, a cellular phone is added along with Internet. Everything one needs can be instantly attained from the iPhone within seconds. This has created a society that relies heavily on technology and one single product in particular. The iPod and iPhones have allowed for endless connectivity with other devices and people around the globe.
Although the developments of the iPod have grown vastly and have created great benchmarks for advancement in the music industry, in some ways it has negatively altered the way people interact with each other. The personal portable music players and the Internet have changed how we listen to our music. Since the release of the iPod, users have been found to be more isolated from everyone and everything else they may be involved in. Listening to music has now become a rather individualized and private thing to do rather than a social matter. In the times that there is sharing involved, it incorporates the sharing of a music file, not sharing the experience of listening to the song with another individual. “Listening to the iPod clearly takes us to another place, it allows us to drift into something of a meditative state. This is interesting because its this area where we show our private selves, rather than our public face. Watch people as they listen to their iPods walking down a busy street or on a plane. They don’t seem to be quite with us.”(Influx)
Since the iPod can effectively keep an individuals life intact, one does not feel the need to interact with others, often leaving people isolated and relying on a single machine. There has been a generated need for this product for our lives to go smoothly. Whether it has to do with sales of the music itself, or the device used to listen that music, the major market share that Apple has created has given them much of the power of the industry. Giving one company too much power in the music industry has its pros and cons. The songs on the iPod can only be downloaded and paid for through the iTunes program. This has made it more expensive to purchase every song that one might want to listen to. Downloading music on iTunes has become extremely costly for the user and may lead him or her to download music illegally. Downloading music files illegally has become a very widespread passion, due to added cost of songs. Therefore, many artists have been negatively affected and hurt due to the minimal sales of their albums. Thanks to the iPod, “the market is moving toward the artifact and not the music to fill it.”(Wired News)
There is minimal diversification for listeners to engage in because of the iPod. Many individuals have a certain number of songs they have downloaded onto their iPod, creating repetition with the music that they constantly hear. It has become more difficult for individuals to branch out and find other types of music that they may find appealing. Apple tried to find a way to get around the issue by creating “Genius,” a system on the device itself that recognizes the tastes of an individual’s music and promotes more songs of the same genre. However, this still maintains a limited view from other genres and artists someone might find interesting. Individuals are not encouraged to explore but rather stay within the same structure of music that they have always been listening to. The technology was supposed to make acquiring new music simple, but it ends up disallowing people to broaden their tastes and instead remain isolated.
“The iPod has now become firmly ingrained in our culture, its become an icon and we can only wait to see what its real impact on society will be and the ripple effects this might have in the business world.” (Influx) The developments of the iPod have been phenomenal throughout the years. Apple was able to create a portable music player that changed the way we listen to music and it has affected us greatly. The connectivity the iPod has created spread from continent to continent in a very small matter of time. Socially and culturally the development of the iPod and iPhone along with iTunes has created an image for the world that now sees their product as something of a necessity to keep ones life organized. Although there have been many breakthroughs within the industry of portable music players, society has become more isolated from others, leaving little room for broadening horizons. Looking at our society as a whole, its pretty safe to say that most of us rely on technology and what benefits it has to offer. No matter how different each persons’ tastes in music may be, most of us have one common factor: we are all connected by owning an iPod.

Bibliography

1. "Influx." Insights. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2012. <http://influxinsights.com/2011/technology/ipods-impact-on-society/>. 2. "Wired News: How Does The iPod Affect Society? - The Mac Observer." The Mac Observer. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2012. <http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/Wired_News_How_Does_The_iPod_Affect_Society/>.

3. "Total Number of IPods Sold All-Time." About.com IPhone / IPod. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2012. <http://ipod.about.com/od/glossary/qt/number-of-ipods-sold.htm>.