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Top of the Pops is uncovered
Top of the pops was a british music chart television program in which each episode had two performances from the best selling popular music artists, alongisde a countdown of the week's top tunes. The way in which the program was presented in such an engaging and interesting way meant that it attracted many millions of viewers. This was of course invaluable promotion for the featured artists and their work. -
MTV launches
The MTV channel launched on 1st August 1981. The original idea of the channel was to play music videos guided by television personalities ( known as 'video jockeys'). MTV aimed to play the most up to date and modern music alongside their videos in the hope that they would attract a young, trendy and influential audience. This company is still as successful today as it was when it launched even though there are increasing numbers of competitors in the music video channel area. -
First website with music archives launches
IUMA (Internet Underground Music Archive) is launched by Rob Lord, Jeff Patterson and Jon Luini from the University of california, Santa Cruz in 1993. The website becomes the internet's first free high fidelity online music archive of downloadable songs and sets a landmark in the way in which we can download music accross the internet. -
The Ipod is released
Interestingly, the Ipod was released just under 9 months after the release of itunes. The ipod was a revolutionary step forward in the way that we consume as well as store music. Each ipod can hold thousands of songs, with an almost unlimited capacity for storing songs (and music vidoes). This means that customers could access literally any song they want and be able to store it on their very own device which doesn't require access to the internet, making it so much easier and more convenient. -
Piracy website 'The pirate bay' is established
The pirate bay is possibly the most famous website in which illegal music was successfully shared and passed on to different customers. When it launched in 2001, it allowed thousands of visitors to the site to illegally download the music of their choice, free of charge. The whole concept of piracy has completely changed the music industry. It is a rapid way of promoting the popularity of an artist, but unfortunately that does also mean that the artist is almost cheated out of their money. -
Vimeo is launched
This US based video sharing website was launched in November 2004. It allows users to upload, share or just view videos. This was a major step forward in the sharing and viewing opportunity of music videos and therefore the physical music itself. In 2013, vimeo is growing in popularity mainly because of the fact that it's a free service. This has resulted in thousands of active users spreading the popularity of certain music videos and therefore giving the artist's a name in the music world. -
The website for youtube launches
Youtube is a site that is very similar to Vimeo in the way that it allows users to upload, share and watch videos. The only difference being that youtube is primarily utilised to watch music videos. This has resulted in youtube becoming the 'go to' place for music videos, making it the pinpoint in many people's expectations of the way in which they expect a music video to be presented. Many oficial artists and bands have their own youtube channels in order to promote their music even further. -
Soundcloud makes its debut
Soundcloud originated in Berlin, germany and is an online audio distribution platform. It was started with having the intention of allowing musicians to share recordings of their work with eachother, however now it allows official artists to distribute their music and their tracks. The website is completely deciated to audio and not visual cues which requires that the audience have their full attentio resting on the physical audio and music itself. This website is also free to use.
