1991 to 1998 -- Rap and Death Metal
1991

The Alesis Corporation of Los Angeles introduced on January 18 at National Association of Music Merchants show its new ADAT machine that recorded 8 tracks of digital audio to a standard S-VHS videocassette using the same helical scan technology that created the videocassette boom in the 1980s; with a list price of $3995, and cassettes at $15, the ADAT made multitrack digital recording affordable for the small studio, with the ability to connect together up to 16 ADATs for a total of 128 synchronized tracks ; 20,000 were sold in its first year from October 1992 to November 1993 and 80,000 sold by 1998. The Electronic Musician declared in Oct. 1992 that "ADAT is more than a technological innovation; it's a social force."

The mp3 file format becomes standardized.
CD-I format achieved.
CD-Recordable introduced to the market
"QuickTopix" the first CD-R pre-mastering Software introduced by Allen Adkins.

1992

CD-R sales reach 200,000

Pillsbury Doughboy raps in a commercial.

1993 ...
1994 Global Big 6 control $30 billion record industry: Philips (owns Polygram, A&M, Mercury, Island), Sony (owns CBS Records), Matsushita (owns MCA, Geffen), Thorn-EMI (owns Capitol, Virgin), Time Warner, and Bertelsmann (owns RCA Records)
1995

Disney purchases Capital Cities/ABC for $19 billion-largest media merger in history.

Microsoft pays $3 to $12 million (depending on who's doing the reporting) to use the Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up" in a television commercial.

1996

Double-speed CD-R drives, bundled with accoutrements like accessories and premastering software, can burn blank CD-Rs in 38 minutes and are chump change at $1,195. Quad-speed CD-R drives, which burn blank CD-Rs in a zippy 18 minutes, can be bought for $1,895. A six-speed CD-R drive made by Kodak can crank out CD-Rs in almost 12 minutes but costs a colossal $19,000. Premastering software for as low as $175 is easy to use, intuitive, and works with Macintosh and IBM-compatible PCs. Blank CD-Rs can be found for $6.95 apiece.

High demand causes global CD-R media shortage.

RIAA claims losing more than $1 billion a year due to piracy.

Disney launches Disney.com and Radio Disney.

Telecommunications Act of 1996: Congress votes to rewrite the 61-year-old Communications Act. Ownership caps lifted. Companies in the television, computer, and telephone industries allowed to enter and compete in each other's fields.

1997

Mitsui builds its first CD-R production plant in the U.S. World-wide shortage ends. Price of CD-R media lower than ever imagined.

Payola resurfaces as record companies sponsor radio play for everything from individual songs to hour-long specials.

Techno appears in commercials before breaking the Top 10.

Michael Robertson founds mp3.com. Robertson's idea is to cut the big record labels out of the equation. Musicians offer sample songs on MP3.com for free downloads.

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