The Most Important Audio Trends in 2018, are covered in this week’s Latest Sale Business Directory. Focusing on audio trends in 2018 as part of the Multimedia and Digital Business Directory, Latest Sale explores how historically, technology has for over thirty years moved from static/ location based technology used in the home or in a car to wearable technology. Wearable technology has been around for over thirty years with the main difference of today being technological advancement.
The 1980’s saw the arrival of the (Sony) Walkman wearable technology device used at the time to play pre-recorded music from tapes and then later compact discs. This then moved in the early 2000s to MP3 players that were destined to provide additional solutions to consumers who did not want the inconvenience of carrying around and then changing bulky CDs.
From the onset of Apple devices, streaming services became ever more important with download facilities via static computer devices enabling the easy transfer of audio to portable devices such as iPods that MP3 Players were supposed to do but could not do due to the lack of advancement in technology at the time of their launch. This trend that has now enabled streaming to Smarphones has given rise to the use of music that is now enjoyed (as of 2018) by over 80% of Smartphone users who store or stream music onto their devices thanks to the various streaming services and online download music stores on the market including Spotify and Apple Store.
Opening up new industries that will undoubtedly develop other industries in the future, wearable technology will facilitate the introduction of hearable technology that uses algorithms to converge the primary features of wearable technology devices and traditional audio devices. Hearable technology functionality aims to create the best of small form factors to facilitate the function of hearing without the burden and cumbersome nature of a wearable device.
Smart speakers and virtual assistants used to improve the consumer’s overall audio experience via cloud-connected eco systems is also a new trend that will develop further as the wearable technology market reaches maturity.