Deck 7: Recordings and the Music Industry: Copyright Battles, Format Wars

Question 1

When a company selling a type of recording device tries to put a competitor out of business, it's called a

A) copyright violation
B) format war
C) recording battle
D) all of these

Answer 1

format war

Question 2

Before the popularity of recordings, music was distributed by

A) town criers
B) organ grinders
C) sheet music
D) nickelodeons

Answer 2

sheet music

Question 3

The first phonograph recorded sounds on a

A) wax cylinder
B) vinyl record
C) metal cylinder
D) reel of tape

Answer 3

metal cylinder

Question 4

The first format wars were between

A) tapes and discs
B) 8-tracks and records
C) cylinders and discs
D) 78 rpm and 45 rpm

Question 5

The first Victrolas

A) were very expensive
B) were operated by hand cranks
C) were about the size of a shoebox
D) all of these

Question 6

The first industry-standard speed for recorded music was

A) 66 revolutions per minute
B) 33-1/3 revolutions per minute
C) 78 revolutions per minute
D) 45 revolutions per minute

Question 7

Although juke boxes were introduced in 1927, they didn't become commercially successful until the late

A) 30s
B) 40s
C) 50s
D) 60s

Question 8

The first national rock hit was recorded in 1953 by

A) Rolling Stones
B) Bill Haley
C) Elvis Presley
D) Sam Phillips

Question 9

Rock and roll contains elements of

A) gospel
B) country
C) rhythm and blues
D) all of these

Question 10

"Covering," an industry practice in the 50s was

A) when record albums came out with cardboard covers
B) when white singers released traditional black tunes
C) when music was recorded on separate tracks
D) none of these

Question 11

The start of the "British Invasion" was when

A) the Sex Pistols came to the U.S. to appear on the David Letterman Show
B) the Beatles came to the U.S. to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show
C) the Rolling Stones came to the U.S. to appear on the Tonight Show
D) England started exporting records to the U.S.

Question 12

In the 50s, Elvis was only shown on TV from the waist up because

A) the TV cameras of that time couldn't zoom back far enough
B) of ratings -- teenage girls were smitten with his sneer and facial features
C) his movements were considered too vulgar for TV
D) all of these

Question 13

The music industry became big business with ______ music

A) classical
B) rock
C) country
D) hip-hop

Question 14

Hip-hop refers to

A) the backing music for rap
B) the culture of rap
C) both the backing music for rap and the culture of rap
D) none of these

Question 15

8-track stereo cartridges were replaced by

A) the reel-to-reel audio tape
B) the CD
C) the 8-millimeter cassette
D) the car radio

Question 16

Shawn Fanning is known for

A) inventing audiotape
B) inventing MP3s
C) developing CDs
D) none of these

Question 17

80 percent of recording industry revenues are made by ___ major corporations

A) 4
B) 25
C) 50
D) 80

Question 18

The music industry is centered in

A) New York City
B) Nashville and Detroit
C) Seattle and Los Angeles
D) all of these

Question 19

A & R stands for

A) album and recording
B) artist and repertoire
C) advance and restructure
D) action and results

Question 20

In the recording industry, a producer

A) oversees the making of a master recording
B) manages a team of engineers and technicians who mix tracks
C) decides when a song will be used
D) all of these

Question 21

Record promoters try to

A) get a record on the charts
B) get a cut from an album played on a radio station
C) get a recording artist mentioned on a gossip Web site
D) all of these

Question 22

In 2009, 30 percent of music was sold

A) at record stores
B) from record clubs
C) through the Internet
D) at concerts

Question 23

Today's music fans are ____________ than in the past

A) less knowledgeable
B) less loyal
C) more impatient
D) more loyal

Question 24

The primary controversy that concerns recording industry critics is:

A) copyright battles
B) format wars
C) cultural effects
D) none of these

Question 25

Members of Congress criticized the Beatles for

A) saying they didn't believe in God
B) smoking marijuana
C) saying they were more popular than Jesus
D) advocating LSD in their lyrics

Question 26

The history of recording can be viewed as a series of copyright battles and format wars.

Question 27

Thomas Edison planned to market his first phonographs as dictating machines.

Question 28

Gramophones were similar to phonographs, but played flat discs instead of cylinders.

Question 29

Tin Pan Alley refers to the district in New York City where musicians used frying pans for drums.

Question 30

Production of consumer phonographs was halted during World War II.

Question 31

Early shellac records were replaced by wax records.

Question 32

A track is a single recorded sound source, used in multitrack recording.

Question 33

Hi-Fi is short for High Frequencies.

Question 34

Bing Crosby is the disk jockey who started a record label and first recorded Elvis Presley.

Question 35

By 1955, when Elvis was shown on TV, he was only shown from the waist up because his gyrations were considered too lewd for the television audience.

Question 36

In 1969, the first compact discs (CDs) were introduced.

Question 37

The winner of the format war between shellac and vinyl records was shellac.

Question 38

Michael Jackson's Thriller was the top selling album of all time.

Question 39

Radiohead was the first superstar band to let fans set their own price for downloading a new album.

Question 40

An arranger is a professional who specializes in a song's words.

Question 41

Promotion in the recording industry begins with getting a record on the charts.

Question 42

Soundscan is a point-of-sale computer system that records the bar codes scanned at the cash registers of thousands of stores.

Question 43

A record label will use movie and television soundtracks as promotional tools, called cross-promotions.

Question 44

Ozzy Osborne was found to be responsible for a teen's suicide after the teen listened to Osborne's song Suicide Solution.

Question 45

The rap groups Public Enemy, N.W.A. and 2 Live Crew have all benefited from adverse publicity.

Question 46

What are "format wars"? Give some examples. What lesson is learned from them?

Question 47

Describe the three basic parts of the early phonograph.

Question 48

What happened when the music industry fought radio over copyright law in the 1930s?

Question 49

Name and discuss two dead or almost dead recording formats. Give reasons why they no longer exist or are rarely used. What recording format available today do you think will become obsolete in the future? Why?

Question 50

Describe Elvis Presley's influence on the industry.

Question 51

How did rock and roll change American music? Describe the high and low points in the history of rock.

Question 52

Why should recording artists be knowledgeable about copyright, contracts and other legal issues?

Question 53

Explain the relationship between the recording industry and music videos, movie soundtracks and television soundtracks.

Question 54

Discuss the various ways recorded music is promoted.

Question 55

Discuss the ways the recording industry and society have reacted to MP3 technology and music downloading over the past few years. What changes and innovations have resulted from this new technology? What are your predictions for the future of the recording industry?

Question 56

Who are the "players" in the music industry and what do their jobs entail?

Question 57

What is the RIAA and what actions has it taken against its customers?

Question 58

Who are some of the artists and music genres that have been accused of causing negative effects on listeners? What evidence suggests that certain music has negative effects? What argument refutes this?

Question 59

Discuss two examples of Clear Channel Communications placing restrictions on music to be played on their radio stations.

Question 60

Discuss the controversies around censorship in music. Explain how it affects the kinds of music we hear. Use specific examples.

Question 61

______ is a legal right that grants to the owner of a work protection against unauthorized copying.

Question 62

Format wars are rivalries in which companies selling specific types of recording and ______ devices try to put competing formats out of business.

Question 63

Thomas Edison's first recording device was called a _______.

Question 64

A type of music popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s with a steady, syncopated beat was
______.

Question 65

At first, commercial ______ spurred sales of recordings.

Question 66

A ______ is a coin-operated phonograph.

Question 67

Woofers and tweeters are types of _______.

Question 68

The invention of rock and roll has been attributed to a disc jockey named Sam ______.

Question 69

Music composed of rhymed speech over drumbeats is called ______.

Question 70

A/An ______ is a compressed digital audio file that enables music to be downloaded from the Internet.

Question 71

The first successful free file-sharing program was ______.

Question 72

A/An ______ label is any recording industry company not owned by one of the five major labels.

Question 73

The person who oversees the making of a master recording is the ______.

Question 74

A & R executives are the talent scouts of the _______ business.

Question 75

The three main performance rights organizations are ______, BMI and SESAC.

Question 76

______ stations are radio stations whose playlists are tracked weekly to determine airplay popularity for individual songs.

Question 77

People can legally download music from the new, legal Napster and Apple's ______.

Question 78

After Kurt Cobain of the grunge group ______ killed himself, there were reports of teen suicides inspired by his death.

Question 79

Wal-Mart will not carry CDs with parental ______ on them.

Question 80

Clear Channel was accused of ______ when its stations stopped playing the music of the Dixie Chicks after a member of that group criticized the president.