How ’90s Music Tech Paved the Way for Millions of Bedroom Musicians

Music from the ‘ 90s , overshadow by the early long time of hip hops and gritty grunge counter - culture might not forthwith seem like a groundswell for transformative new convenience and gimmick . However , despite its seemingly graceless patina , a smattering of important invention spanning the decennium have arguably done more to nurture the current period of relatively cheap , on - demand , DIY musicianship than any other instrument prior . An artist in 2023 armed with a MacBook , a comme il faut pair of earpiece , and a heroic or two to part with can realistically produce a full - length record album capable of rivaling a professional product from previous decade .

raw tool like Digital Audio Workstations and audio interface slowly but surely gave artists the big businessman to get more work with less while major improvement in high - impact engineering science like the creation wide web and the MP3 formatting meant instrumentalist could share their work with a far wider interview than ever think possible . Transgressive new products from peer - to - peer filing cabinet - sharing internet site like Napster , meanwhile , pave the way for the streaming earned run average and created an unquenchable consumer position for more and more content for less cost .

All merge , these advances in euphony tools and tech make the ‘ ninety a watershed decennium that dress medicine on a course still being felt today . Like all polar advances , each young puppet add its own complex curing of tradeoffs for musician , consumers , and the quondam safety machine of medicine industry titans . Here ’s some of the most transformative music tech of the ‘ 90s and why it matters today .