The 45RPM was successful because of large budget behind RCA’s stubborn marketing strategy, which in turn led to its total overhaul of the traditional 75’. Because the medium changed, so did the audience. Curtis explores this in their discussion on sociotechnological interpretation of popular music. They claim that technological determinism is responsible for the changing tastes in popular music, meaning that technology is responsible for changing tastes and accessibility, and the general future of the music industry. This runs contrary to the argument that music itself and its accessibility, along with the tastes of listeners, determines what medium it is distributed through.
This makes sense- the medium that music is distributed through can completely change its geographic accessibility. One can make the argument that the commodification of music is purely based on reactionary forces to economic stagnation or boom, such as after the Great Depression or World War II. While economic patterns determine market values, the commodification of music was the availability of it before such events in the twentieth century. It is important to take a balanced perspective when considering technological determinism and reactionary economic patterns based on outside influences.
Accessibility comes next – The appeal of a 45RPM to a listener comes from its accessibility as a commodity. While the physicality of the medium itself is a commodity, including the material it is made on, it is the physicality of music that adds a sense of ownership to a piece of work. Of course, the commodification of music did create a more casual relationship with music, but the accessibility of an LP did give opportunities to youth in the 1950s to experience it as a common bond. Curtis gives another interesting point in this case. They claim the aural complexity of popular music became so difficult to concentrate on in background settings because of new editing processes, such as a pop song in the radio, that genres such as rock music became a private listening affair. In turn, a common bond among youth became listening to the record itself, almost in a private act of musical communion. An even stronger bond between artist and audience became apparent with the introduction of B-Sides, which often were more intimate or flawed takes of a song.
When examining the 1950s, the rise of the 45RPM can be attributed to the record’s contents. They only include enough for two songs, and were easily affordable. This relays back to the appeal of the 45RPM in comparison to previous mediums, such as the 33RPM or the 75RPM. They were widely distributed, which means that geographically confined music tastes were available to all. 45’s were color coded to genres which made them even more recognizable by music taste.
Based on the readings done in preparation for this response, I feel that they did not address the appeal of a 45RPM to younger audiences, but focused on the history of the physical medium of music and its relationship with shifting trends in audience.
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