Analog VS. Digital Music
From phonographs all the way to mp3 players, music has had a huge impact on how each decade perceives and listens to their favorite songs and recording artists. The phonograph was first invented in 1877 when Thomas Edison attempted to improve the telegraph transmitter and realized the movement of the paper tape through the machine resembled spoken word when played at high speeds. Edison used a hard pointed instrument along with a tinfoil cylinder and spoke into the device “Mary had a little lamb,” soon realizing he was able to play it back. Without meaning to, Edison opened the door to the future of the music industry, making it possible for musicians to record and distributes their original work. 50 years later vinyl records would come into play, and by the 1950’s they were your main source to listen to music. Vinyl Records were most popular from the early 1950s’ to the 1980’s until Sony developed the first digital audio recording devices to be used by professional studios. The following year, Sony invented the portable Walkman cassette player, selling over 100 million in the first year. In 1988 Sony came out with the compact disc that would be the first use the new available digital format MP3, software that compresses and decompresses audio files.( "Digital vs. Analog Audio: Which Sounds Better?") This would set off the digital audio player revolution that achieved tremendous success when Apple’s iPod was released in 2001. The advancement of digital music has made it easier to obtain music as well as restore and preserve vinyl records, cassette tapes, and CD’s making MP3 audio files superior. Without technology always evolving we would not have the luxury of being able to carry about our entire music collection in the palm of our hands. Since the rise of the internet in the 1990’s, downloading Mp3 files has become the superior way to obtain music. Downloading Mp3 files through the internet is more convienient than having to go to a store and purchase CD. With the option of downloading Mp3 files there is no longer a need to buy a whole album. We now have the option of being able to download just one song or the artist’s whole
Discography. Apple’s iTunes is one source that has many options for the consumer’s preferences and essentials when they pick their next Mp3 player, though it can get expensive buying single tracks. One argument against this ability is the dramatic drop in record sales and the rise in free downloads. The fact that is so easy to obtain any song or album of your choice has led to consumers no longer buying music at all. Instead they can download other people’s torrents through different websites. This is done through “Seeding”, which is when there are “hosts” sharing their files so people are able to download those files to their computer. ("Digital Music.") Though this is not the best aspect of being able to share music through the web, there are a lot of people who still prefer to buy their music so their favorite artists can get recognition. In the last decade vinyl records have even started to make a come –back, but over all Mp3 audio files are the best option when selecting your music.
How the Mp3 format restores analog music from its vinyl format is by compressing the record on a vinyl converter turntable that is able to transfer the data to a CD with the Mp3 format. Once the data is on the CD, it is then able to be put onto a computer that can download and transfer the music to an Mp3 player. People who grew up during 1950-1978 did not have the option of a portable walkman or an iPod, in their opinion vinyl collections are superior because they have the original format of the album. The quality of vinyl records is more authentic to the original recording, which usually sounds raw and distorted. There are people that prefer the more distorted and warped sound but it is difficult to find high quality vinyl records on the market. The best records are generally kept in vaults of the record labels. 50 years ago it was not possible to record multiple tracks at one time like we can now. In this day and age we can put a microphone to each member of a band and individually record their separate part, making it possible to edit when necessary. When analog music was most popular recordings were done all at once and if a mistake was made the whole recording would have to start all over. Since we are able to record more than one track at a time Mp3 format has a better quality with a clearer sound with very little distortion if any at all.

How Mp3 format preserves analog music is by taking those distorted recordings and compressing the file down 1/6 to 1/12 their normal size, making file exchange over the internet easier. (“Answer Line”) This led to the invention of Mp3 player. Prior to the Mp3 format, audio files were huge and transferring music over the internet was tedious and time consuming due to the amount of data being transferred. Some may argue that though it may be convenient to have all of your music on one device, it is not the same having a variety of vinyl records or collection of CDs. I myself remember being proud of my CD cases filled up with all of my favorite albums and I enjoyed showing my collection off to all my friends, but having to carry around heavy CD cases any time I wanted to listen to music was not as enjoyable. In 10th grade I got my own iPod and I felt the difference between carrying my CD cases in my backpack and holding a small Mp3 player in my pocket and all of a sudden my options for music were endless. With vinyl records and CD’s there are a limited number of tracks that will fit and there is a limited number a person can carry on them at one time. The iPod has also taken away the need to have shelves stacked with vinyl records or CD collections. There is no longer a need to worry about your records getting destroyed or CDs getting scratched when all of your music is converted to your Mp3 player. Mp3 format gives us the opportunity to preserve all of the favorite classic hits by saving the files to a computer that will store all of your favorite albums safely in your computer or hard drive. At the click of a button you pick any song you want at anytime and not think twice. If all vinyl records, cassette tapes, and CD’s are compressed and converted to Mp3 format then downloaded to an Mp3 player, we effectively make is easier to obtain, restore, and preserve all music. By transforming analog music to digital music we give future generations the opportunity to be able to listen and admire music from the past. We give the future a chance to appreciate music from previous decades. Without Mp3 format there would not be away to share audio files as convenient as we are able to. Technology will always continue to evolve and it is up to us as consumers to embrace the

change that is bound to happen. Through the ability to convert analog music to digital files we successfully change the future of the music industry for the better.