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A history of the music industry : 1960's

Pirate Radio Station, Radio Caroline

While the 1960's may have been a settled era for the vinyl recording, it was a period of massive change for the world of music, and more particulary the world of radio.

In 1964 the first pirate radio stations started broadcasting, amongst them the now legendary Radio Caroline. Radio Caroline North and Radio Caroline South claimed a staggering 32 million visitors between them. There were also stations such as Radio City, Radio London, Radio Scotland, and many others which had followed Caroline onto the high seas.

One radio station even took over a disused Anti Aircraft Battery in the Thames Estuary. The immense popularity of these stations prompted almost universal support from the pop stars of the day, including artists as popular as the Beatles.

Woodstock Festival

By 1967 however, the BBC had launched Radio 1 (using a Pirate Radio format), and the pirate radio stations were forced to withdraw from the airwaves.

Notable other developments to reach fruition during the 60's included the humble cassette tape. Originally introduced by Philips in 1963, the compact cassette was offered to the market with free licenses worldwide, an important factor in its growth as a popular medium.

Of course the sixties will always be remembered for the birth of bands like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Beach Boys, but it's interesting that the latter of these bands were the first to use a full-range sound system for their rock music concert tour.

Another important cultural development during the 60s was the creation of the rock music festival. The Monterey International Pop Festival, with performers including Jimi Hendrix, The Who & Otis Redding was held in 1967.

But of course no piece about music festivals can be written without referring to those "3 days of peace and music" immortalised on film by Michael Wadleigh, that became known as Woodstock.

Held in 1969, Woodstock for many encapsulated the mood of the late 60s hippy movement and served as a shining example of how concert technology had developed during the course of the decade.

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