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Technology and Music

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photoIn 1877, Thomas Edison launched a technology boom that would revolutionize the way the world listened to music and ultimately revolutionize music itself.

Edison created the phonograph, which he imagined would be a dictation machine. Instead, it would become the first generation of technology to bring Americans music.

From the phonographs of the 1920s to the MP3s of today, technology has shaped how we hear music, how music is distributed, and, increasingly, how it is created.

Recently, file-sharing software company Grokster and the recording industry squared off before the U.S. Supreme Court over the free sharing of music online. But modern technology has already driven, danced with, and changed music for more than a century.

Tune in for a conversation with rock music critic Mark Coleman on how technology has revolutionized music and way the world listens to it.

Guests:

Mark Coleman, rock music critic and author of "Playback: From the Victrola to MP3, 100 Years of Music, Machines, and Money."

This program aired on April 15, 2005.

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