One of the biggest difficulties to overcome is the production of the first album, single or LP. Studio time and hiring the sound equipment and an engineer is an extremely expensive project and out of the range of most start-up bands. This means that a lot of the independently produced albums are recorded in various homes and garages. Whilst this greatly reduces cost, there is still the obstacle of producing the physical CD to distribute. A way to reduce cost for CD production is to produce one CD using the recording software available on most laptops or computers and then utilise a CD duplication company to make potentially thousands of copies relatively cheaply and then a band can start distributing their music.

Duplication is a way to cheaply make lots of CDs at once, which you can then start both selling to fans and sending to various labels and companies to get the word out. Big labels like Sony Music or the Warner Music Group will take a band that can send them a CD much more seriously than they would to a band that only has online content on websites like myspace, soundcloud or youtube.

Some might think of music only when they are deciding what to listen to. Perhaps they are about to embark on a walk and are trying to decide what to listen to on their walkman, or maybe they are working on an essay and need something on in the background to help them concentrate. And then there are those that use music in their line of work – perhaps they work in a recording studio or maybe they are a film director deciding on what kind of music would best suit the spectacular actions scene they have just shot. It shows how diverse and versatile music actually is. It finds its way into everything, with jingles on TV adverts helping us to remember a certain product or perhaps it is part of a great memory – a party with a good mix of tunes or a festival with a line up of our favourite bands.

To some, music is a defining part of their personality and in certain cases it is easy to spot what kind of music someone listens to. In its heyday it was easy to spot a punk rocker compared to say a modern day ‘goth’. Equally there are whole worlds and subcultures where certain music is attributed. Some music will easily find its way into the skater scene, just as bikers might listen to rock music.

Music is a huge part of our culture and will stay here for as long as we exist. It has infiltrated our way of living in almost every way. And so it should, for it brings joy to so many people and being universal, brings us closer to our neighbours in foreign countries. Without music, there would be a profound knock on effect that would be apparent across the board.

CDs, tapes, mini discs, records, mp3s and files on a computer. There are so many ways of listening to music that it would be hard to be without.