I was born in the early 1970s. My parents were music fans, and I grew up at a time when the record labels actively developed and supported new artists. As long as they could count on a few big hits each year, they’d take risks on new artists. In many cases, those new artists would start trends and go on to be hitmakers themselves.
Granted, we were only hearing what they wanted us to hear, but music was relatively affordable. More to the point, it was accessible. Radio stations acted as venues to promote new music, record stores were in every strip mall, and concerts were affordable to an adolescent on a budget.
The most empowering thing at that age was the Sony Walkman. We take things like the iPod for granted now, but at the time, portable music was a novelty. Paired with headphones that allowed me to tune the world out, it was incredible. Continued...