Fueled by the Internet and digital technology, music is starting to undergo changes that could eventually dwarf the revolution of rock and roll - a radical shift in the way music is created, distributed, and listened to.
The US$40 billion music industry is grappling with a rapidly evolving distribution network that lets people download high-quality recordings for listing or creating new music. Meanwhile, as pre-millennial tension mounts, artists are finding new tools for making music, expanding its experimental edge into new terrain as music once considered avant garde - electronica and immersive soundtracks - is nudged toward a bigger audience.
Many of the '90s new genres are incorporating these innovations into their very foundations, laying the ground for fundamental changes in both music and its audience. Wired News looks at the forces remaking the music industry and the often-conflicting ways that independent artists and big studios are reacting to them.
Part One: Sounds of Revolution
28 October 1997
Titans Brace for Uprising
by John Alderman
Music distribution over the Internet is inevitable. But the giant industry, with decades-old habits, doesn't know how to adapt.
A New Interface for Fans
by Steve Silberman
By giving fans access to live recordings for the price of blank tape, the Net is not only reshaping the PR and record-distribution industries, it's subtly influencing the music itself.
Fire Your Agent and Jack Into the Net
by Mike Tanner
Drawing on the spirit of their punk predecessors, today's independent bands are using the Internet to update their DIY resources.
Part Two: Nurturing New Genres
29 October 1997
Electronic Music, Meet the Recording Industry
by Janelle Brown
Big labels are determined to take advantage of the vibrant youth culture that's gravitated toward electronic music. But with a format that doesn't fit their expectations, they're just not quite sure how to do it.
Kings of Jungle
by Ian Christe
Jungle music - pulsing, insanely fast, and not afraid to be goofy - is moving fast from a mutant culture to a mainstream phenomenon.
Sonic Worlds for Walkman's Children
by John Alderman
It's no coincidence that the appeal of immersive soundtracks comes at a time of epidemic lust for powerful stereo equipment and a desire for artificial environments.
Recombinant Do-Re-Mi
by Steve Silberman
The hot new genre of "world music" is all about influences, absorption, appropriation, cultural promiscuity, and creative miscegenation. Is this really so new?
Death Metal: Born-Again Heavy Metal
by Ian Christe
Heavy metal has lost its glamour, and its mainstream support. What's left is far more interesting: An extremist successor driven by romantic yearnings and nihilism.
Part Three: Innovations and Experimentations
30 October 1997
Letting New Noises Out of the Bag
by Kenneth Newby
The next chapter in music history is already being written by composers and geeks. Someday, your computer will create music along with you, a new twist on do-it-yourself publishing.
Scenes from the Marriage of Audio and Video
by Mike Tanner
Emergency Broadcast Network has built a reputation for works combining hyperkinetic sampling that is at once disturbing and funny. In its new outing, the band's going for a seamless whole.
Music Technology: A Timeline
by Kenneth Newby
From wax cylinders to digital multitrack systems, a history of the cutting edge in sound.
A Cheat Sheet for Internet Sound
by Ian Christe
Deciphering and keeping track of digital audio formats can be tricky. Here's a guide.
