David Byrne's TED Talk: Venues and the Music Industry

David Byrne’s TED talk, which summarizes his main argument in his novel How Music Works, changes how the story of the evolution of music is told. The usual accepted idea of the evolution of music centers on innovators such as Bach or Mozart, who just from sheer brilliance and innate talent were able to alter the course of music history. While their genius cannot be disputed, none of the changes they or innovators after them created were made in a vacuum. That statement seems obvious, but what isn’t normally discussed is how much location and venue have provided the impetus for such changes. Byrne is suited to make such an argument. He is known as the leader of the Talking Heads, a popular art-rock band whom released a slew of acclaimed records throughout the '70s and '80s. The Talking Heads, through Byrne’s songwriting and vision, fused disparate genres such as punk rock, disco, new wave, ambient, and world music into a unique, organic sound – they started out in punk rock clubs like the legendary CBGB’s to eventually headlining venues such as Carnegie Hall. Byrne points out that fact himself in the talk, which is interesting as he actually notes that CBGB’s provided the better sound for the music his band made, while the seemingly more impressive Carnegie Hall actually drowned out some of the intricacies of his songs that perhaps required a more intimate setting.

Byrne raises the idea that music was created as a result of adjusting to the venues that they were played in. African music, for instance, features a mostly communal effort, with lots of percussion and call-and-response vocals. This music sounded great because it was played outside, with no reverb that one might hear in a large room to drown out the complex rhythms. Meanwhile, in cathedral-style churches, the music featured long, drawn-out notes with virtually no sense of rhythm because of the reverb of the rooms the music was performed at. This flattered the music being played, but if it were to be played outside, it wouldn’t work at all. Bach was allowed to play around with key changes because he played in smaller cathedral-style venues, and Mozart’s music was mostly very intricate and pretty because he was playing in small ballrooms where details can be discerned, giving him the freedom to try his hand at more complex music.

He traces this line further with very convincing results, but perhaps the most interesting part of the talk is the point at which he gets to the creation of recorded music and the invention of modern microphones. Recorded music allowed for artists to record more quietly, because they didn’t need to play loudly to be heard above anything. Frank Sinatra’s vocals often sounded so intimate because of the microphone – otherwise such singing would be either too quiet or drowned out. The line traces all the way to the MP3 player, where music is now made because of the “venue” of this new digital setting – directly into the listener’s ear. Now, artists often don’t even consider the plausibility of performing some of their songs live – production techniques can provide such a unique experience that it’s almost like staging a concert through headphones.

Byrne’s talk is significant to me because it provides a template for dealing with changes going forward in the industry. Genius isn’t being repressed because of platforms such as SoundCloud where just about anybody can upload their own music – it’s being repurposed into a new form based on the changing context of listening to and enjoying such music. The industry has often failed, especially with the advent of MP3’s, at responding to change, sticking to old ways of distributing music. Instead, the music industry must change as music itself changes, especially considering how rapidly music consumption has transformed in just the past five or so years, with streaming platforms now reigning supreme. Those are the new “venues,” and music is being created in response to that new context. Will the industry respond the same way?