Music in the 20th and 21st Century

Lady Gaga - 21 century music

The 20^th century saw the birth of new musical styles, genres, and instruments. Music in the 20^th century took a different turn like many other popular activities and means of entertainment in the 20^th century, thanks to the advances in technology.

With the invention of the radio and other ways to replay and distribute music, people started listening to music more and more, as the rich and poor alike now had similar access to music. Before, music was limited to concerts, opera houses, clubs, and playing music at home. Music artists were able to gain popularity quicker with easier and more convenient methods of transportation to perform and became easier access for their fans. By the 90s, music was easy to come by through the internet, where fans could download any number of songs in a very short period of time. Smaller and more portable modes of listening to music appeared in the 20^th century, namely the walkman, then, CD players and finally, mp3 players. After the invention of the television, artists started making music videos, which in a sense, was a useful substitute for live performances.

With music and musicians becoming increasingly important facets of society in the 20^th and 21^st centuries, there became several magazines in circulation dedicated to music. Namely, Billboard magazine, founded in 1894, was the first music magazine to come into print and continues to be one of the most popular music magazines in the world.

Just some of the many popular genres that appeared in the 20^th century include classical, electronic, folk, blues, jazz, hip-hop, rock, disco and new age. Most of the different genres of music have several sub-genres of their own. The different categories of music use different instruments to make different sounds and use different styles of vocals. The 20^th century saw the appearance of equalizers and different ways of editing vocals.   

Amplification made live music concerts more enjoyable and made it possible for theatres to accept a larger audience. Performances also took on a new style. Now, music artists could perform solo or in groups, dancing and wearing more expressive styles and costumes. In earlier times, music entertainers were not taken seriously, for the most part, but that changed towards the middle of the 20^th century, and onwards.  Music artists became important and influential personalities in the media. Fans across the world followed their favorite singers and singing quickly became a legitimate career.