The History of Music Media
- Analia Almodovar
- Apr 7
- 4 min read
Miami, Florida
Melodies shared by family and passed down through stories can now reach thousands through our phones and the limitless libraries readily available through a search. With a simple search, we access music instantly– a remarkable shift from the past. Each era has brought new innovations—vinyl records, cassette tapes, CDs, and streaming services—reshaping how we listen and how music is created and shared. But how did we get here? The small yet underestimated part of history explores the game-changing technologies and the cultural shifts that have defined the soundtrack of human civilization.
The phonautograph was officially patented by Eduard-Leon Scott de Martinville, a French inventor, on March 25, 1857. It was a first of its kind. Why? Well, because it did one thing: it could capture the sound waves produced. Before this, we could only show the sound waves. For example, striking a tuning fork near a piece of paper would make the paper move, but the actual sound couldn’t be captured. This instrument took the sound waves and would be transcribed on a paper covered in soot and it would be engraved. The recordings were not able to be played back, and the creation of the phonautograph was a first in the world of music. While the phonautograph could visually record sound waves, it could not play them back. That breakthrough came with Thomas Edison’s phonograph in 1977.
The Phonograph, created by Thomas Edison in 1877, was the first to be able to playback recordings through engraving the sound on tin cylinders. He had this idea as he was working on a telephone transmitter. Around the same time, he was working with Emile Berliner, who invented the microphone for which a patent was issued in 1880. At the same time Charles Cros, a poet, came up with the concept for the paleophone, which would play recordings of words. He didn’t have enough money to build a complete model but published the idea, and these creations paved the way for the graphophone and gramophone.
The Graphone (also referred to as Dictaphone) improved on Edison’s phonograph; the only difference was that instead of tin cylinders, they were wax cylinders. The change in the cylinder type would let the ridges be better recorded, and in turn, the recordings were much better than before. The Gramophone was patented around 1887 by Berliner, it was the first to use flat disks, the oldest version of the record. These disks were called 78s referring to the 78 rpm (revolutions per minute) that the disks had.
The 1900s
The 20th century saw rapid advancements in music technology, building upon earlier innovations. From the first true recording of a jazz band to digital file sharing. The microphone followed the recording in 1925, allowing significant labels to use them to create better audio. The magnetic tapes were created in 1928, but due to World War Two and the effects it wasn’t truly used until 1935 when AEG, a German electrical company, had revealed the K1 to the German people where it gained its fame. In the 1940s, multitrack recording was also introduced to the music industry, thanks to the magnetic tapes' capabilities of being able to record different parts on the tape. Multitrack recording was a way for labels and artists to record different parts of a song, unlike how they had to record it all at once. After 8-track tapes were introduced, the cassette tape was next in the industry. Cassette tapes developed by Philips allowed people to record and play back in a small and compact design by the 70s. These cassettes became the industry standard, and many music sources were recorded and could be played though a Walkman or a boom box. The 70s also brought the first Digital Audio Workstation, allowing artists, musicians, and producers to have a digital editing system, and Ry Cooder to have the first digital album. Later, in the early '80s, the CD or compact disk, also prototyped by Philips and Sony, went head to head with them and soon became the new standard, replacing vinyl records.
The digital age
In 1998, the first MP3 player was released, a way for people to transport their music without the need for separate storage or the bulk that came with a portable CD player or a cassette player. The MP3 was quickly outpaced by the one and only Apple iPod. Released in 2001, the Apple iPod soon hit shelves and was a success. It offered more storage than MP3 players. Soon, the second generation came in 2002 with 10GB storage and 20GB storage, and the time line of the Apple iPod didn't stop till 2019 when the iPod Touch was released. In 2008, Spotify, a new streaming app, was released, and it soon became popular. In more recent years, they have added podcasts and audiobooks to their already extensive library and soon became one of the top streaming platforms to exist.
From soot-covered paper to digital streaming, the evolution of music media has changed not only how we listen but how music itself is created, shared, and experienced. What began as an experiment in capturing sound has transformed into an era where music is more accessible than ever— yet continues to evolve. As we move forward, one thing is for certain: music will always find new ways to reach us.
Sources
댓글