Media and communication week two

Creating new, more widely available technology helped to widen the audience of mass communication. This increase in publicity helped introduce the Industrial Revolution in the mid 1800's. Victor Köhler's film Press Pause Play disuses the change in media over the years and how the technological improvements have resulted in a larger range of possible artists. With new resources more people have access to the equipment need to create music, David Weinberger says, "With just me, my laptop, an idea and five million downloads" (PressPausePlay). With very limited items now, one can create a piece of art and share it with the world; artists do not have to go through pricey studios to create music, they can just flip open their laptop. Today the technology gives this opportunity to everybody. Moby said, "Everybody is an artist, in olden days people didn't make stuff" (PressPausePlay). Any person that wants to can easily make music. This was not the case in the past. The technology has improved, opening the door for new artists, Moby explains, "In five minutes, I can do what took six months" (PressPausePlay). The technology has not only connected a greater number of people to music but the broadening happened in a shorter time. Artist can easily create music and put it out into the world. All of these advantages have come with the technology that has progressed over time.
The introduction of the Industrial Revolution started with the printing industry. In the 19th century the steam-powered cylinder press was invented, "This new development allowed for the rapid reproduction of printed materials" (Chapter Two). The introduction of mass communication allowed for the audience of newspapers and other forms of art to expand to all people. "Although newspapers had existed since the late 17th and early 18th centuries, they had been read by the educated elite, not the general public" (Chapter Two). Costs were too high because the amount of copies was so low; with the new printing methods newspaper companies were able to boost their product numbers to increase availability. "The costs of printing were too high to reach a mass audience, and the content was not everyday news items but dated information from abroad, political reports, and essays" (Chapter Two). The improvements made to technology for newspapers works similarly to how the music industry has changed; the easy accessible technology helped to widen not only the audience but the content too.