Disco was the music genre that reshaped the culture during the 1970s. The innovative seductive techno yet mindless sounds captivated people. The lyrics told the stories of the era political like Bee Gees Stayin’ alive, Gloria Gaynor I will survive break-up anthem to party song Michael Jackson Off the Wall. Disco was about liberation, freeing oneself from the constraints of social constructs. Dancers submitted to the disco sound-producing a free-flowing art form. People would let the music dictate their body movement, which lasted for hours on end, as seen in Studio 54 and Soul Train. Salsa is similar in this regard; the sound of the drums, plena, and guitar takes over our body. The power of music immerses the dancer is the moment to point where time is lost. The seductive yet structured moves give the music power and more meaning. Both salsa and disco require one to lose their inhibitions to feel the music truly.

Life as a new yorker is synonymous with music. Music is part of our environment, from the music blaring from the passing car with the overused base, the music from the storefronts, and the train performers. The city has a soundtrack that was made possible only through innovative technology. The headphones are a New Yorkers’ tool of escapism.

Coming from a large musical family, gathering around music has always been a norm from my grandfather’s old records playing to my uncles’ breakdancing battles with the boombox; if the music was playing, it was a family event; however, with the daily use of headphones gathering around music doesn’t happen as often as Alt points out stating music was primarily a shared experience, but now music is experienced alone. It is possible that the former social experience turned solo has contributed to our new norm of isolation. Although headphones certainly allow us to escape from the overwhelming chaos of the city, they can be dangerous, as Krukowski highlights in the opening of headspace with the woman who was listening to music via headphones and fell off her bike. Innovative technology like the iPhone has evolved our music experience using headphones and access to thousands of song selections. The sound quality of the headphones impacts our experience, especially with noise-canceling headphones like Beats by Dre.