How headphones changed the world

Great piece over at The Atlantic on the history of “personal music”:

The purpose of the headphone is to concentrate a quiet and private sound in the ear of the listener. This is a radical departure from music’s social purpose in history.

And also, on music’s educational benefits:

If headphones are so bad for productivity, why do so many people at work have headphones?

The answer is surprising. Give this article a good solid 10 minutes to sink in.

Author: Will Kuhn

I teach music technology to high schoolers. I do some other stuff too. @willkuhn on Twitter.

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