Greetings! It’s a pleasure to participate in this initiative of the Hivesicians community to argue about topics proposed weekly. In this first week we will address the question: Has Technology Changed Music for Better or Worse? I will be sharing my personal impressions with all of you.

This question does not have a one-way answer, as it will depend on in what sense we consider that music has been influenced negatively or positively by the great and dizzying technological advances. If we look at it from the point of view of the production and dissemination of record and digital material, we have that technology has come to represent an advantage, especially in terms of the massive creation of musical quality content and the facilitation of its subsequent propagation by several media, both material and virtual.

The music industry has been transformed thanks to new technologies, and in fact nowadays anyone can create music from home with the help of a computer, it is only a matter of having some programs dedicated to recording and editing; whereas, in the past, in order to make a musical production it was necessary to move to a recording studio with the equipment or to rent it there, which was, and in some cases still is, a complex and tedious process.

But technology has not only influenced music in the aspect of mass production, it has also given way to the creation of new styles and musical rhythms such as electronic music, House, among other styles that Djs know very well how to mix with the help of synthesizers. These styles are far from classical music and the more traditional currents, however, they have their audience and therefore must have their charm, because as the saying goes, the authors did not write about likes and colors.

Now, if we take the question from the sense of the proliferation of low-quality music with little lyrical content, which has precisely taken off thanks to the great ease of creating projects and spreading them through the networks, here we have an inflection point. We usually say, formerly the lyrics of the songs and its musical arrangements were of much better quality and fineness, some people think that today anyone believes themselves an artist and even influences the masses practically only based on their personal style, presented as fashionable or luxurious, with messages that are not always useful and often border on the obscene. These kinds of things were not seen before, as being called a musician was the same as being called a respectable and professional art creator.

In my opinion, music and technology go hand in hand, especially in the times we are living in, it is a matter of giving the best use to these advances to achieve quality content that, although full of modern elements, does not cease to be an artistic work, with consideration to the public that gets to listen to it, and that they can notice that there was inspiration, talent and art printed in each creation.

In the balance, I consider that technology has changed music for better, and that it is up to us and our conscience to use it appropriately for the continuous diffusion of this beautiful and ancient art that we are so passionate about.

Referencias de Fuentes Consultadas / Consulted Sources:

- Koval Santiago (21 de octubre de 2012). Música y tecnología: un límite difuso. Revista Kubernetika.

https://www.santiagokoval.com/2012/10/21/musica-y-tecnologia-un-limite-difuso/

- Vives Judith (30 de enero de 2020). Tecnología aplicada a la creación musical. La Vanguadia –Junior Report.

https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/junior-report/20181123/453103615435/tecnologia-aplicada-creacion-musical.html

- Juanmcarmon (15 de junio de 2008). El uso de la tecnología en la música. Revista Red Educativa Musical.

http://recursostic.educacion.es/artes/rem/web/index.php/musica-educacion-y-tic/item/237-el-uso-de-la-tecnolog%C3%ADa-en-la-m%C3%BAsica