History of the Recording Industry

Introduction of Edison’s phonograph

1877

Edison’s phonograph material

tin-foil cylinders

Introduction of Emelie Berliner’s flat disc

late 1800s-early 1900s

benefits of the flat disc

cheaper, easier to reproduce

setbacks of Edison’s phonograph

expensive, fragile, only recorded loud music

Rise of the Record Player

1900s-30s

Victrola (1906)

designed as a furniture piece

record player impacts

active music making → passive listening

Record “label” origen

referred to the paper label in the center of the disc (artist, catalog #, and company)

Enrico Caruso

first global recording star

Bessie Smith

Empress of the Blues

John Philip Sousa

popularized mass-selling ensemble recordings

Al Johnson

blurred boundaries between live performance, cinema, and recording music

Bing Crosby

first major crooner + multimedia star, invested in the magnetic tape

RCA Victor

focused on opera, flat discs, and quality

RCA Victor logo

logo was a dog to emphasize the quality

Columbia Records

introduced the double sided disc, had a broader catalog

Edison Records

continued with cylinders and fell behind

Acoustic → Electrical Recording

~1925

acoustic era

crowding around and recording on a horn

telephone industry technology

microphones & amplifiers

condenser microphones & vacuum tube amplifiers

offered better frequency range and clarity

Crooners & Radio Era

1920s-30s

Crooning

soft, intimate vocal style

rise of radio impact

amplified reach, singers can now be nationwide celebrities

Race Records

recordings by Black artists, marketing to Black audiences

Race divisions

indie labels looking to sign Black artists

“Crazy Blues” by Mamie Smith

1920 release, sold 1M+ copies, showed market potential for Black music

later name for race records

rhythm & blues

Ralph Peer

believed in recording everyday people with portable recording systems

Ralph Peer impact

resulted in a nationwide musical revolution

1927 Bristol Sessions

dozens of rural musicians auditioned, recorded in makeshift studios

Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow Tree

Carter family landmark hit

The Big Bang of Country Music

launched Rodgers & the Carters

Memphis Jug band

pioneered a lively, urban blues sound using improvised instruments

Magnetic Tape

iron-oxide coated tape, higher fidelity, and more reusability

Fritz Pfleumer

developed the magnetic tape

Benefit of the magnetic tape

can now edit after recording

Birth of Rock & Roll

white crossover artists brought R&B to mainstream audiences

78 RPM Shellac

brittle, held about 3 min per side

45 RPM single

introduced by RCA Victor, jukebox friendly for short pop songs

33 1/3 RPM LP

introduced by Columbia, longer playtime, introduced concept albums

introduction of the turntable

1951 - unified the market

Singer-songwriter

shift from singles to albums, artists became the creative center

The Beatles studio innovations

multitrack recording, tape loops, etc

George Martin

producer for the Beatles

Musique Concrete

composing with already recorded soudns

1970s Bronx

DJS used turntables as instruments

Vinyl → Cassette impact

enabled home recording + portability

Philips 1963

Introduced the Cassette

Cassette → CD impact

more clarity, durability + audio time, profits from catalog reissues

Philips & Sony 1982

introduced the CD

MP3 file size reduction

90% +

Napster

1999 - share MP3 files globally

iPod & iTunes

broke album sales model

Streaming

Predictable subscription revenue, access replaces ownership