CIS Working Paper Series

TECHNOLOGY AND THE DEGRADATION OF MUSICAL AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE:
OBSERVATIONS ON THE HISTORICAL CORRELATION BETWEEN THE
INCREASING TECHNOLOGY AND DECLINING QUALITY OF MUSICAL RECORDINGS

After reaching a high point in consumer quality in the ¼” tape analog format, musical recordings have undergone a continuous and serious decline as newer formats have been introduced. Ever since the early 1970s, issues of production cost, ease of use, and widespread distribution have taken precedence over the quality of the actual musical content. In recent years, largely as a result of the Internet phenomenon, the trend has accelerated, driving the fidelity of musical recordings down precipitously. The 8-track tape and tape cassette formats were the first to make the tradeoff of convenience for quality. The audio CD format did away with surface noise problems, but has fallen short in other areas. Internet formats such as MP3 and streaming audio have accommodated bandwidth limitations by providing much lower quality recordings. Further technological improvements will eventually be able to bring the quality of recordings up to an acceptable standard. Future applications of the computer to artwork will have their strongest points not in the reproduction of older art forms, but in the creation of wholly new genres of artworks.

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