Music on Youtube

Most people think of music videos as being a product of the Eighties. While the Eighties is when the music video format rose to prominence, music video mockery reached an artisan level in 2005. In that year, the internet phenomenon YouTube was created. The website features many different kinds of videos. One of the most popular features music on YouTube. Youtube music channels are very varied in the type of videos they contain. YouTube videos can be separated into various channels based on the content of the videos. Many of the samples of music on YouTube feature videos produced by the record companies and artists themselves. However, a larger portion of the videos on the site are fan reproductions of famous videos. While some are respectful of the source material, many videos feature elements of mockery.

The proliferation of the internet and the rise of Napster lead to changes in the distribution method of many music videos. While prior to the creation of YouTube, music videos almost exclusively created by record industry, technology’s proliferation began to change that trend. Just as home video cameras made it easier for everyone to film, the proliferation of advanced home computers and editing software made it easier for anyone to create a professional looking video. A large portion of the videos on the site are fan reproductions and adaptations of famous videos. While some are respectful of the source material, many YouTube videos feature elements of mockery.

A YouTube search for “literal music video” results in almost two thousand music videos which replace the original vocal with lyrics describing exactly what is happening on screen. The videos mocked by these YouTube music graffiti artists vary from “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler, to “Anything for Love” by Meatloaf, to “Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne. Any musician making a foolish video can expect to see their music on YouTube being made fun of in short order.

There is another strong presence of music on YouTube. Many unsigned artists place their music on YouTube in an attempt to have their YouTube music video’s attract a cult following. By posting music on YouTube many artists. Lil Wayne and Justin Beiber have had the most success due to placing their music on YouTube, although Justin Timblerlake, Jay-Z, Akon, Usher, and Jermaine Dupri, among many others have all searched YouTube for music and signed a variety of musicians to their record labels.

Just as Napster aroused the ire of some artists who music was found on it, not is happy to see their music on YouTube. Some take issue with the mockery of their work, although this is new a new development. Class clowns have been making up alternative and unflattering renditions of popular songs for years. The only difference is that when the mockery of their music is on YouTube it has a larger appearance than previous technology ever made possible in at any point in human history so far. Mockery will always find new venues to spread itself, so these complaints are unfounded.

Online Music

There are a variety of sources for anyone seeking music online . However, the legality of these online music sources varies from one service to another. Some methods which were once illegal means of obtaining music online have since become legal, while some sites which allow users to download music remain outside of the law. The most popular method of online music delivery however is completely legal.

Online music downloads were first made popular by the application Napster. Napster was founded in June 1999 by Sean Fanning and Sean Parker. Fanning, a student at Northeastern University in Boston was searching for a simple method to find music online without having to go through existing search engines to find online music. Although MP3 music downloads were already popular before the creation of Napster, it was the first application to provide a centralized database, and a simple and user-friendly interface for people looking for music online. The popularity of the service peaked in February of 2001, with 26.4 million verified users around the world using the application to download music. However, the record companies, upset that people were able to obtain music online without paying for them organized themselves into the Recording Industry Association of America and sought an injunction against Napster because online music downloads without paying the record companies violated copyright. A March 2001 court injunction forced Napster to cease allowing users to download music. Napster was forced to shut down for a period of time. In an attempt to satisfy the restitution it was obliged to provide the RIAA, Napster attempted to charge for online music. After whetting its appetite with free music downloads the public found other options.

Following Napster’s shut down, music downloads ceased to be hosted by a central server, making it harder for the RIAA to stop widespread efforts to download music. Since the files were now on individual computers the RIAA elected to now go after those users whose music downloads were the most voluminous. These users were now using peer-2-peer file sharing applications. Some of the most popular of these which are still in use include Kazaa and Limewire. These systems probably cover a larger volume of music downloads than Napster did at its peak, however the volume of music downloads is difficult to determine because of the decentralized way in which the programs’ users download music. One of the complaints often leveled against peer-2-peer file sharing is that users are dependent upon the number of users with the desired file online, as well as upon a fast internet connection. One way around this obstacle to getting music online is the use of torrent files, which share data between multiple users at once, and are hosted on websites.

The most successful music downloading method however was found by Apple. Its introduction of the Apple store, which allows users to download most singles for less than one dollar and many albums for less than ten appears to have found a price which many users are willing to pay in order to download music legally.

Types of Music

There are many different ways to classify music. One of the most common ways used to differentiate between types of music is to attempt to define different genres as a way to separate one type of music from another. One drawback of this style of classification is that there is often a great degree of overlap from one genre of music to another. While some types of music can be clearly separated, such as rap from country music, some lines are more difficult to draw. It can be impossible to distinguish between some of the more narrow definitions of music. What one listener may define as acid rock another listener may consider psychedelic rock. Even a band that says they are simply practice one genre of music cannot claim to be immune from the influences of another style because even if they hate a particular style of music they can be seen as trying to consciously or subconsciously attempting to avoid having there music sound like that style. Only the most obscure example of music could possibly attempt to lay claim to creating “pure” music. Even an infants humming and noise making is influenced by the music that the child’s parents enjoy.

Further blurring the lines of different types of music are artists who over the course of their career can be understood to be responsible for the creation of many different types of music. The Beatles are one of the most illustrative examples of this phenomenon. At the band’s inception, and during their early releases Please Please Me, and With the Beatles they could best be described as a popular rock band. Later, they moved on to being a rock and roll band, but even then there were elements of their music that were influenced by other typed of music. Before very long the band included elements of classical music as well as psychedelic rock in their album Revolver. Their album Rubber Soul was influenced by eastern music, as seen by the presence of instruments such as the sitar, as well as early traces of influence from classical music. Some critics also hail Rubber Soul as a classic folk album. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, however represented the culmination of the Beatles attempts to blend different types of music. The more than 700 hours of studio time that went into the creation of the album included the use of a forty piece orchestra, the beginning of what could be known as electronica through the heavy manipulation of natural sounds through mixing machines.

Music since Beatlemania can been defined in relation to them. Bands since have either attempted to emulate some type of music that the Beatles brought to prominence, or attempted to rebel against the pervasive nature on the music that the Beatles created. Even if a band does not acknowledge the influence of the Beatles on their music, any band they cite from nearly any type of music has been influenced by a band that has been affected by the Beatles’ music.

Current Music

There are many different ways to classify music. One of the most common ways used to differentiate between types of music is to attempt to define different genres as a way to separate one type of music from another. One drawback of this style of classification is that there is often a great degree of overlap from one genre of music to another. While some types of music can be clearly separated, such as rap from country music, some lines are more difficult to draw. It can be impossible to distinguish between some of the more narrow definitions of music. However, there are several general classifications under which new music released in recent years is categorized as belonging to when placed in stores.

The most common categories that a person looking for new music in a music store will find are Country music, Rap and R&B, Pop Music, Classic Rock, Pop Rock, Soundtracks, and Dance. Current music released in the country category includes new music from artists such as American Idol winner Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift. Some popular new music released in the Rap and R&B category include works by Jay-Z and Kanye West. Pop Rock is identified by current music from such mass-produced artist such as Britney Spears, and other artists who have carried on a style of music popularized by the late Michael Jackson. Classic Rock refers to both the older offerings of artists such as Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel, but also includes any new music released by these artists. Classic Rock artists can generally be defined as artists who have been producing music spanning several generations. One of the classifications of music that may have the broadest offerings of current music is Pop Rock. Pop Rock includes myriad artists. It is generally characterized by a dependence upon strong guitar work, and lyrics that are sometimes secondary to the power of the musical compositions. Artists vary from alternative offerings such as Death Cab for Cutie to emo bands such as Fall Out Boy. New music in the Soundtrack genre includes albums compiled from new television shows, movies, and musicals. New music is constantly being released for this category of a record show because most movies released in the United States attempt to use current music in an attempt to connect with a young and valued demographic. Current music released in the Dance category is difficult to describe, but may best be understood as the music a person could hear playing in a club, and is constantly changing.

Any attempt to provide and accurate description of new music is doomed to failure. As Billy Joel wrote in 1980 in his song “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me,” which described the fights between an artist and a producer attempting to get him to change his musical style in order to appeal to a new and younger demographic, “there’s a new band in town, but you can get the sound in a magazine.”

Music Downloads

There are a variety of online sources for anyone seeking to download music. However, the legality of these music downloads varies from one service to another. Some methods which were once illegal means of obtaining music downloads have since become legal, while some sites which allow users to download music remain outside of the law. The most popular method however is completely legal.

Online music downloads were first made popular by the application Napster. Napster was founded in June 1999 by Sean Fanning and Sean Parker. Fanning, a student at Northeastern University in Boston was searching for a simple method to download music that having to go through existing search engines to find music downloads. Although MP3 music downloads were already popular before the creation of Napster, it was the first application to provide a centralized database, and a simple and user-friendly interface to assist people looking to download music. The popularity of the service peaked in February of 2001, with 26.4 million verified users around the world using the application to download music. However, the record companies, upset that people were able to obtain these music downloads without paying for them organized themselves into the Recording Industry Association of America and sought an injunction against Napster because the music downloads violated copyright laws. A March 2001 court injunction forced Napster to cease allowing users to download music. Napster was forced to shut down for a period time. In an attempt to satisfy the restitution it was obliged to provide the RIAA, Napster attempted to charge for the previously free music downloads. After whetting its appetite with free music downloads the public found other options.

Following Napster’s shut down, music downloads ceased to be hosted by a central server, making it harder for the RIAA to stop widespread efforts to download music. Since the files were now hosted on individual computers the RIAA elected to now go over those users whose music downloads were the most voluminous. These users were now using peer-2-peer file sharing applications. Some of the most popular of these which are still in use include Kazaa and Limewire. These systems probably cover a larger volume of music downloads than Napster did at its peak, however the volume of music downloads is difficult to determine because of the decentralized way in which the programs’ users download music. One of the complaints often leveled against peer-2-peer file sharing is that users are dependent upon the number of users with the desired file, as well as upon both users having a fast internet connection. One way around this obstacle to getting music downloads is the use of torrent files, which share data between multiple users at once, and are hosted on websites.

The most successful music downloading method however was found by Apple. Its introduction of the Apple store, which allows users to download most singles for less than one dollar and many albums for less than ten appears to have found a price which many users are willing to pay in order to download music legally.

Free Music Downloads

There are a variety of online sources for anyone seeking to download music. However, these music downloads are of varying legality. Some methods which were once illegal means of obtaining free music downloads have since become legal, but are no longer options for users seeking free music. Methods which allow users completely free music downloads generally remain outside of the law.

Free music downloads were first made popular by the application Napster. Napster was founded in June 1999 by Sean Fanning and Sean Parker. Fanning, a student at Northeastern University in Boston was searching for a simple method to download free music that having to go through existing search engines to find those free music downloads. Although MP3 music downloads were already popular before the creation of Napster, it was the first application to provide a centralized database. The biggest advantage Napster had in letting people find free music was a simple user-friendly interface. The popularity of the service peaked in February of 2001, with 26.4 million verified users around the world using the application to download free music. However, the record companies, upset that people were able to obtain these free music downloads without worrying about the copyrights which affected the free music, organized themselves into the Recording Industry Association of America and sought an injunction against Napster because the free music downloads violated copyright laws. A March 2001 court injunction forced Napster to cease allowing users to download free music. Napster was forced to shut down for a period time. In an attempt to satisfy the restitution it was obliged to provide the RIAA, Napster attempted to charge for the previously free music downloads. After whetting its appetite with free music downloads the public found other options.

Following Napster’s shut down, music downloads ceased to be hosted by a central server, making it harder for the RIAA to stop widespread efforts to find free music. Since the files were now hosted on individual computers the RIAA elected to now go over those users downloaded the most free music. Free music downloads had been pushed onto peer-2-peer file sharing applications. The most popular of these which are still in use are Kazaa and Limewire. These systems probably allow more free music downloads daily than Napster did at its peak, however the volume of free music that passes through these applications is difficult to determine because of the decentralized way in which the programs’ users download music. One of the complaints often leveled against peer-2-peer file sharing is that users are dependent upon the number of who have the free, as well as upon both users having a fast Internet connection. One way around this obstacle to getting music downloads is the use of torrent files, which share data between multiple users at once, and are hosted on websites.

The most successful music downloading method however was found by Apple. In addition to charging less than a dollar for most singles and less than ten dollars for many albums through its iTunes store, it also offers several free music downloads on a weekly basis.

Music Sheets

The music industry, which is commonly associated with the production of compact discs, commonly referred to as cds, is the heir of a system began by Mozart’s widow, Constanze Weber, in an attempt to provide a living for herself after the death of her husband. Since then the music industry has gone through various permutations. It was first involved in the sale and publication of sheet music, be before very long had adapted itself to handling the sale and production of audio recordings after the creations of the radio and of the phonograph. These recordings have taken various formats in the intermittent years, varying from vinyl records, to eight-track tapes, to cassettes, to compact discs, and currently seen in market for digital downloads, especially those which can be listened to on iPods.

While vinyl records, have lasted longer than eight-track tapes, cassettes, or the compact disk as common methods of music delivery, sheet music has not seen a significant decline in its use. Music sheets are used in a variety of ways, but is important to first understand what they are. Sheet music contains a series of notations which can be interpreted by a person who understand the notes on them to recreate another composer’s work. Music sheets contain a series of repeated lines, which run from on margin to the other. Each series of lines if five bars high, with four rows in between them. These bars and rows are used to represent the musical scale. There are a number of mnemonic devices used to recall which line on music sheets refer to which note. The most common mnemonic for the bars is “Every Good Bird Does Fly.” The mnemonic which is used to recall which notes go with the intermittent spaces is that when arranged in order they spell out the word “FACE.” By combining the mnemonics it is easy to figure out that the musical scale represented on the music sheet is constituted by the notes E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F.

In order to understand what the music sheets’ notes in turn mean it is important to understand what are placed on the bars and in the spaces. These notations, or “notes,” tell how for long each note should be played. These notes can be classified in a series of ways. The longest note normally encountered is called a full note, followed by a half note, then a quarter note, and finally an eighth note. As implied by the names, each note is half as long as the note which precedes it. The placement and duration of each note on the sheet music provides instruction to musicians and singers who are studying the music sheets, and can provide them invaluable instruction in correctly performing the music. Music sheets place in the history of music is well established Since its introduction it has served two vital, though opposite functions. First it serves composers with a tangible way to examine a work in progress. It also allows the dissemination of the composer’s completed work to people who would otherwise not be able to enjoy the music.

Music Cds

The music industry, which is commonly associated with the production of compact discs, commonly referred to as cds, is the heir of a system began by Mozart’s widow, Constanze Weber, in an attempt to provide a living for herself after the death of her husband. Since then the music industry has gone through various permutations. It was first involved in the sale and publication of sheet music, be before very long had adapted itself to handling the sale and production of audio recordings after the creations of the radio and of the phonograph. These recordings have taken various formats in the intermittent years, varying from vinyl records, to eight-track tapes, to cassettes, to music cds, and currently seen in market for digital downloads, especially those which can be listened to on iPods.

Music cds, however still represent a significant portion of the music industry. Although the sale of cds has diminished following the rise of Napster around the turn of the century, and the online music distribution systems advancement through to Apple’s iTunes Store, music cds have continued to provide a source of revenue for the music industry as a whole. Although stores which once focused on the sales of music cds have virtually disappeared from America’s market place, other stores have stepped in to fill the void left by the stores. Walmart and Best Buy now deal in a substantial portion of the physical sale of cds. Where once shoppers had to go to a smaller store front, such as Sam Goody’s or Coconuts to buy cds, they are now able to get their music cds in during shopping trips to store they were going to visit anyway. When Tower Records was forced to close its flagship store in New York City, it was heralded as the death of the storefront sale of cds. While the volume of sales has fallen throughout the first decade of the Twenty-First Century, it is simple a period of realignment.

The record industry has begun to move away from focusing solely on the distribution of its product through physical music cds. The digital distribution method pioneered illegally by Napster opened the eyes of an industry stuck firmly in the past. It has begun to accept the idea that people were not willing to pay as much as the record companies had been charging. On March 19, 2010, Universal became the first of the four major record companies to announce that they intended to sell most new releases by current artists for less than ten dollars. This would allow Universal to sell physical copies of their cds for less than is charged by Apple for a electronic copy. Universal also announced that it will be the first company to place recommended prices on their music cds. These two actions, which other record companies are also expected to adapt, may lead to great profitability because it will allow the companies to move a higher volume of cds for their popular products, and may entice shoppers to buy some of the more expensive music cds while in the store.

Music Videos

Most people think of music videos as being a product of the Eighties. While the Eighties is when the music video format rose to prominence, like most modern musical traditions, music videos can trace their roots back to The Beatles. The first music video to achieve broad access was created as promotion material for the June 1966 release of single for “Paperback Writer” and the connected B-side “Rain” by The Beatles. The term “music video” is attributed to disk-jockey J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson in 1959.

There were three music videos that accompanied “Paperback Writer” and “Rain.” One, recorded May 20, 1966 at Chiswick House in London follows The Beatles as the sing and walk through a garden. The other two music videos were very similar. The first was a black and white soundstage performance by the band, and intended to air in the UK. The other was a color version, intended for The Ed Sullivan Show. The two performance videos were filmed on May 19, 1966. The performance videos would set the tone for music videos for a long time to come. The Kinks music video was one of the first released with a plot not connected to the lyrics along with their single “Dead End Street” in 1966, although it did not receive wide distribution. The first music video to be edited entirely on video tape was “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen. Devo released many self-produced music videos. When these were eventually released on video cassette, they represented one of the first long-form video productions.

The most famous music video of all time, however, may be “Video Killed the Radio Star,” by The Buggles. This was the very first music video to air on MTV. MTV revolutionized the idea of the music video. While Night Flight premiered on the USA Network two months before MTV’s August 1, 1981 debut and played music videos, MTV was the first channel devoted entirely to music video programming. On the first day the network was on the air it played sixty-three different videos. Over the next decade MTV and its use of music videos revolutionized the music industry, the making the once rare music video a requirement for any artist hoping to achieve success. Over the next two decades, MTV remained the premiere source for music videos.

The proliferation of the internet and the rise of Napster lead to changes in the distribution method of many music videos. Many videos were exchanged through the file sharing service, however the real change in the consumption of music videos was still to be see. In 2005 the internet phenomenon YouTube was created. The site features many videos produced by the record companies and artists themselves. However, a larger portion of the videos on the site are fan reproductions of famous videos. While some are respectful of the source material, many videos feature elements of mockery. A YouTube search for “literal music video” results in almost two thousand music videos which replace the original vocal with lyrics describing exactly what is happening on screen.