ABSTRACT
The advent of digital technology in the early 1980s marks the beginning of what may be the most fundamental change in the history of Western music since the invention of music notation in the ninth century. This is a rather bold statement, so let me explain. The earlier innovation was brought about because Charlemagne wanted to standardize the music of all the churches of Christendom. Yet, as is usually the case with any technology, the resulting uses were different from the original intent. Standardization was eventually achieved by and large, but perhaps more noteworthy is the fact that notation changed the ways music was made, stored and distributed, and heard.
