The Life and Times of Auto-Tune (rough)

1990: Dr. Harold Hildegard founds Jupiter Systems, eventually Antares Audio Technologies

1997: Antares introduces Auto-Tune, a pitch-correcting software program

1998:
-Cher releases her hit song “Believe," which uses Auto-Tune to construct its distinctive bridge

-The song’s producers claim the Auto-tune effects are actually a vocoder, trying to protect a trade secret

2000: Gigi D’Agostino releases the Auto-Tuned “La Pasion,” which becomes number 1 in Belgium

2001: Janet Jackson releases the Auto-Tuned “All For You,” remaining on the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks

2004: T-Pain rises to fame with his Auto-Tune-based “Hard & B” style, which takes on imitators

2008: T-Pain claims a right to royalties from any artist using Auto-Tune

2009:
-Death Cab for Cutie protests the widespread use of Auto-Tune at the 51st Grammy Awards with blue ribbons

-Jay-Z releases “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)”