01 / 06
1950s
Rock and roll
“It's just a fad.”
Stations banned it and churches burned the records. It outlived them all.
The Collective
We're night people.
Songs to dedicate, to dance close to, to drive around to with the windows down.
Rompe.
Until the moon cracks.
And where it cracks, gold.
Two nights.Sometimes they cross.
Latin Tropical
A warm night. A guitar that cries pretty, a song to dedicate, a slow dance, close.
Latin Urban
A night of hard light. Bass that hits you in the chest, the street, the club, the car circling until the sun comes up.
The same moon.
It rises over San Juan and over New York. Over Santo Domingo and Miami. Over Mexico and Chicago. Over the home you left and the one you made.
If you're looking at it, this music is yours.
CubaCuba
Puerto RicoPuerto Rico
Dominican Rep.Dominican Rep.
MexicoMexico
Guatemala
El Salvador
Honduras
Nicaragua
Costa Rica
Panama
VenezuelaVenezuela
ColombiaColombia
Ecuador
PeruPeru
Bolivia
BrazilBrazil
Paraguay
ChileChile
ArgentinaArgentina
Uruguay
TorontoToronto
New YorkNew York
MiamiMiami
ChicagoChicago
HoustonHouston
PhoenixPhoenix
Los AngelesLos Angeles
They always said it wasn't real music.
02 / 06
1982
The drum machine
“That's not a real drummer.”
Musicians in London voted to ban it from sessions. Today the 808 beats under trap and reggaetón.
03 / 06
1991
Sampling
“Sampling is stealing.”
A judge said: ask first. Producers learned to clear it and credit it, and sampling became a craft.
04 / 06
1994
The rave
“It's just repetitive beats.”
Britain wrote a law against “repetitive beats.” Now they fill stadiums.
05 / 06
2009
Auto-Tune
“That's not really singing.”
A band wore ribbons against it to the Grammys. Today it's a voice of its own.
06 / 06
Today
Artificial intelligence
“That's not music.”
We've heard that before. The answer hasn't changed: a person decides what stays.
They said it every time. The music kept coming.
No genre ever leaves.
Machines change. Heartache doesn't.
If you can't feel it, it isn't finished.
A person finishes every song.
Each one keeps its number. Forever.
Come break it with us.
If you make music, there's room here.
