© 2025 Michigan State University Board of Trustees
Public Media from Michigan State University
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

TechnoPop, VI: 'The Triumph of the Amateurs'

In the final installment of his six-part series TechnoPop: The Secret History of Technology and Pop Music, NPR's Rick Karr reports on how advances in recording technology have allowed musicians to put a state-of-the-art recording studio in a closet -- and put the recording industry in peril.

Copyright 2002 NPR

Rick Karr contributes reports on the arts to NPR News. He is a correspondent for the weekly PBS public affairs show Bill Moyers Journal and teaches radio journalism at Columbia University.
Every WKAR News story you read is rooted in fact-based, local journalism, produced without commercial influence and available for free to everyone in mid-Michigan. No paywalls. Ever.

But this work doesn’t fund itself. With significant cuts to federal funding, public media is facing a critical moment. If you believe in journalism that serves the public interest, now is the time to act. Donate today.