No longer were they tucked away in monasteries for only priests to read and copy. Although there are several theories as to the inception of the Renaissance, I believe the single most important invention was Gutenberg's printing press. Knowledge could now spread quickly and easily as compared to the previous centuries. I presume it took about 100 years for books to spread about Europe, but when they did, new ideas, inventions, thinking, etc. Everything was effected, including music and painting.
Lets look at the present.
Not since the 15 century have we seen a sudden increase in knowledge as we are now experiencing. The invention that has made this phenomenal accelerated leap possible is, of course, the Internet. I remember my first introduction to the Internet. I was observing a then new operating system, NeXT, which was supposed to be the ultimate in computer offerings. I could not believe that the operator could go from Europe to Japan by merely typing and entering an address.