The evolution of music

For each of us, music has left its mark and left great memories. In my personal experience, I feel that music has been an expression of friendship and true love. Accompanying my father to sing serenades as a child and having met my current spouse in a children’s choir since our childhood has been a great gift that I have experienced. Music has been and will be a part of my personal and family life. 

There is no country in the world where music is not ingrained and an important part of its culture. One of the important elements of this expansion of music to all corners of the world in society is due to technology, and Sirius XM Holding (NASDAQ: SIRI) is a company that can give us a clue as to why this expansion is happening. Now, let’s look at how music has evolved since its origins and how humans have adapted it at the most important moments in its history.  

There really is no exact date for the origins of music; what is certain is that it has been with us forever as it has to do with the emission of sounds that add some meaning to our relationship with our lives and our environment. This connection with music has inspired human beings to strengthen their beliefs, rituals, and their relationship with important moments of humanity. During prehistoric times music was a form of expression, and it is known that the instruments must have been percussion instruments. People created music with their own voices and materials such as wood, stones, skins, ivory and animal bones. Today, many peoples, especially indigenous peoples, continue with these customs that exalt gods and beliefs related to their faith. 

According to musical history, the oldest instrument recognized by science is a flute made from swan bone and was used to make calls. The bow, used for hunting, originated sounds and since then was the beginning of stringed instruments. Incidentally, there was a time in prehistoric times when metals such as copper, bronze and iron were used to create a kind of instrument called the Karnay, which was a kind of trumpet made of upright metal to call for fights and disputes with the enemy. From prehistoric times to the present day, human interaction with music has been a means to achieve its purposes.

Of course, the interaction with music throughout history was not for self-defence, ritual or belief. In the most ancient civilizations of mankind, such as Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece and ancient China, music found an expression where certain people, such as priests and religious leaders, could only access music to promote their beliefs, Christian rites and praises. It was only during the Renaissance and Romanticism that music expanded, with greater force, from the religious and managed to develop popular music expressed in madrigals and Christmas carols, until reaching classical music where you can witness works and concerts of high relief through musicians of the stature of Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig Van Beethoven, among others. In this way, music became a symbol related to culture and education. A stage began in which professional musicians who left their mark on humanity itself began to stand out.  

This expansion with the popular is happening today, where music connects people of all ages and where technology is a key factor in supporting this massification. Today, music is increasingly portable and integrated into every aspect of our lives, and with every moment we interact with our environment. We listen to music while playing sports when we want to be creative or simply when we want to be in good company with friends and family.  

As an example, we can highlight the company Sirius XM Holding (NASDAQ: SIRI), which promotes a satellite radio service in the United States and Canada. Sirius currently provides 69 music channels, as well as sports, news and entertainment channels to listeners. The music channels are broadcast 24 hours a day without commercials. Today, music is expressed through different genres such as Pop rock, country, hip-hop, jazz, and Latin music, among others, and what I really like about Sirius XM Holding (NASDAQ: SIRI) is that, through its platform, you can listen to all kinds of music and music genres with singers from the likes of Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Eminem and many more. It is also an update channel that broadcasts the latest Grammy Awards and the promotion of famous musicians such as Billy Joel. 

In the future, I think electronic music will become more famous. Computers will continue to play a major role and in some cases, ultimately replace traditional musical instruments. The new applications that exist will have more influence on the rhythm than the vocal. Finally, the connection of music with urban expression, promoting the realities and experiences of each society, is a phenomenon that will become increasingly important and is already generating great debates in today’s world.