FACTS OF THE MATTER – RECORDED MUSIC
Edouard-Leon Scott De Martinville made the first known musical recording, called a phonautogram, on April 9, 1860. While trying to capture a visual representation of sound waves, he recorded himself singing the French song “Au Clair de la Lune”.
In 1877, Thomas Edison invented the phonograph. It used recordings created on tinfoil, which was wrapped around a cylinder. These recordings lasted only a few plays. Ten years later, Emile Berliner patented a recording device that used discs instead of cylinders. These first records were made of glass, then zinc, then rubber, and eventually shellac. Berliner called the device a gramophone. The discs he created were the first sound recordings that could be mass produced.
Around The Turn of the 20th century, Berliner persuaded several musical artists, including Enrico Caruso and Dame Nellie Melba, to record on his machine. He also worked with Eldridge Johnson, who in 1901 founded Victor Talking Machine Company (later acquired by RCA). Johnson chose a trademark depicting a Jack Russell terrier named Nipper listening to a phonograph. It became one of the most recognized logos in the world, and is still in use today.
By 1901, most discs were 10 or 12 inches in diameter and recorded at approximately 78 rpm; in 1925, that became the standard speed. Advances in recording technology allowed for slower recording speeds without sacrificing fidelity. In 1931, Columbia Records made an unsuccessful attempt to introduce the LP (for ‘long playing”) at 33 1/3 rpm.
In 1948, Columbia introduced the microgroove LP, which became the industry standard. The first LP released in this format was Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor, featuring soloist Nathan Milestein, and Bruno Walter conducting the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York. In February 1949, RCA countered with the 45 rpm, launching a war of formats that lasted until 1951, when the companies started using both of them, making the 78s obsolete.
Competing Magnetic recording tape formats – the compact cassette and the 8-track – were introduced in 1963 and 1965. In 1982, the compact disc, which used digital recording technology, was introduced.
Digital Music downloads did not generate revenue for the U.S. recording industry in 2003, but sales in other formats brought in $11.9 billion. In 2012, revenue from digital music downloads will total at leaste $5.3 billion, and revenue from other formats will total at least $4.9 billion.
- Paul Engleman
the rotarian, Rotary’s Magazine
February 2013