Timeline of Music in The United States (1970–present) - 1978

1978

Late 1970s music trends
Slam dancing in mosh pits comes to the United States from the British punk scene. Disco loses its mainstream popularity, with many music fans growing increasingly antagonistic towards the entire genre. Minimalism comes to dominate most American concert music. Support for music education in public schools begins to decline. Though British punk bands would receive international attention first, American punk rock begins, with groups like The Ramones and Dead Kennedys. A new style of Irish American music is popularized by the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, characterized by a single lead vocalist with a widely varying instrumental backing band, often with elements of traditional Irish sean nos vocal ornamentation. Irish American rock bands create a new style called Celtic rock, based on rock music with the addition of the fiddle or other Irish instruments and with strong influences from Irish folk music. Irish American music festivals are established in Virginia (Washington Irish Folk Festival), New York City (Irish Traditional Music Festival), Philadelphia (Irish Music Festival) and Milwaukee (Milwaukee Irish Music Festival). A revival of Jewish American klezmer music begins. A number of religious Jewish rock operas are composed and performed, most famously including Sol Zim's David Superstar. The field of popular music studies - the academic study of popular music - begins to achieve mainstream scholarly acceptance as a valid area of research.

Late 1970s music trends

Slam dancing in mosh pits comes to the United States from the British punk scene.
Disco loses its mainstream popularity, with many music fans growing increasingly antagonistic towards the entire genre.
Minimalism comes to dominate most American concert music.
Support for music education in public schools begins to decline.
Though British punk bands would receive international attention first, American punk rock begins, with groups like The Ramones and Dead Kennedys.
A new style of Irish American music is popularized by the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, characterized by a single lead vocalist with a widely varying instrumental backing band, often with elements of traditional Irish sean nos vocal ornamentation.
Irish American rock bands create a new style called Celtic rock, based on rock music with the addition of the fiddle or other Irish instruments and with strong influences from Irish folk music.
Irish American music festivals are established in Virginia (Washington Irish Folk Festival), New York City (Irish Traditional Music Festival), Philadelphia (Irish Music Festival) and Milwaukee (Milwaukee Irish Music Festival).
A revival of Jewish American klezmer music begins.
A number of religious Jewish rock operas are composed and performed, most famously including Sol Zim's David Superstar.
The field of popular music studies - the academic study of popular music - begins to achieve mainstream scholarly acceptance as a valid area of research.

Charley Rappaport, Stephen M. Wolownik and Lynn Carpenter form the Balalaika and Domra Association of America, which brings together many of the Russian balalaika orchestras across the country, and serves as a "clearinghouse for importing Russian instruments, books, and music".
Erno Rapee's Encyclopedia of Music for Pictures is published, "to provide ideas for music appropriate to a scene" in a movie.
Don Cornelius' Soul Train, an African American counterpart to American Bandstand, first airs.
The emcee begins to replace the DJ as the most prominent performer in hip hop.
Simon Frith and Angela McRobbie are the first academic researchers to study the perceived inherent masculinity of rock music, concluding that it is a product of socialization early in life, in which females are encouraged to be passive and submissive, qualities antithetical to much rock music.
Sony introduces the Walkman, a portable cassette player that contributes greatly to the success of that format for recorded music.
Martin Scorsese' documentary of The Band, Last Waltz, pioneers a new style of concert film, presenting a more naturalistic image than the larger-than-life atmosphere of most earlier concert films.
Middle Class releases "Out of Vogue", the first West Coast hardcore punk recording.
The North American Basque Organization begins sponsoring a summer camp to help keep alive the musical and other cultural traditions of Basque Americans.
The Tyagaraja Festival in Cleveland is founded, by members of the Faith United Church of Christ, to protect and promote Carnatic music, becoming the largest music festival of its kind outside India, and the first such festival in the United States.
Kent State University establishes one of the first Thai musical ensembles in the United States.
Sound Explosion becomes the first Filipino American mobile DJing group, which will soon become a major phenomenon in the San Francisco area.
The Apple II's alphaSyntauri music system is the first "low-cost professionally usable computer music system".