I listen to music every day, as I am sure you do as well. I grew up downloading songs, making CDs for my portable CD player, getting my first iPod, and now streaming any song I want from my phone. Music is an art so deeply integrated into our society that it is easy to forget its history and the impact it has on every listener. With each technological development, our society also shifts. A quote from Johann Hari’s book “Stolen Focus” inspired me to take a step back and analyze the technology that has become a part of the everyday routine. Thus, the Tracklist of Change: How We Listen to Music project was born.
“Take care what technologies you use, because your consciousness will, over time, come to be shaped like those technologies.”
(Hari, 2023)
The Overview and Goals
For this content series, I will focus on the evolution of music consumption. This project will be a collection of content, a mix of infographics, carousel imagery, and copy that will be posted on LinkedIn, that examines not only the technology but also the psychology behind listening based on different platforms. Some mediums encourage group, solitary, passive, and active listening. This project aims to inform the audience about the history of music technology and the social dynamics associated with each medium.
The Plan and Deliverables
The development and completion of The Tracklist of Change: How We Listen to Music project will take place over the next 7 weeks.
Week 1 consisted of research on the topic using articles, interviews, videos, etc. Week 1 also included creating my project proposal. Clearly stating the goals, target audience, plan of action, and content breakdown is vital to an organized production. Thinking through every phase and providing a reasoning for why this project is important to myself and the audience solidifies the goals I have for this endeavor.
Week 2 will be the planning phase, where I will set clear deadlines for myself and align on the content I will produce to ensure I cover the topic fully. Then, in Week 3, I will create the rough drafts for the content, which will be developed in Week 4. I will then conduct user testing in Week 5 and revise the content in Week 6 based on user feedback. Finally, in Week 7, I will begin releasing content on LinkedIn twice a week for a total of 3 weeks.
The final collection of content will consist of 6 posts:
- Post 1: An infographic that encompasses the whole project overview with a caption that introduces the project to the audience.
- The posts that follow will be focused on subcategories of the major innovations. Each technological advancement will be described in technical terms, and the impact on society will be highlighted.
- Post 2: The first era of music listening: the phonograph and the gramophone
- Post 3: Broadcast radio
- Post 4: Personalized listening with technology such as the cassette tape, the Walkman, and CDs
- Post 5: Downloadable music technology: the MP3 player and the iPod
- Post 6: Streaming platforms
Final Thoughts
In 1877, the phonograph was invented, the first technology capable of playing back a recording. Now in 2026, we have AI DJs integrated into our streaming platforms. How we approach listening to music as a society has completely shifted. As with any force that has such an impact on society, it deserves recognition and analysis. That is what I aim to do throughout the next 7 weeks with this project, and I hope you follow along with the process.
Check out my full project proposal here:
Resources
Hari, J. (2023). Stolen Focus. Crown.
LAUREN SCOOPO 