COMM245 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Victor Talking Machine Company, Emile Berliner, Graphophone

• School: University of Delaware
• Department: Communication
• Course: COMM245
• Professor: Shupard

Document Summary

Pre 1900s no recorded music: new music was sold via sheet music. One of the first music publishing agencies. Worked with vaudeville and singers to promote songs. Evolution of the record player: the phonograph was the first device for recording sound. Recorded sound waves onto a tin foil disc: graphophone. Wax cylinder instead of foil: gramophone. Focused mainly on the victrola: gramophone that doubled as a piece of furniture. Effects of the record: sheet music dropped in price, musical arrangements became much more difficult. Early on, arrangements had to be simple in order to be played by the general public. After the record, musicians only ever utilized sheet music: format of a song. Music was recorded live and was therefore free: music was a direct threat to the recording industry, producers of record players merged with radio companies to stay alive.