Evolution of the Music Player by Jaren Almonte

The Phonograph

Jan 1, 1877

The Phonograph was created by Thomas Edison and was the first method of recording and playing back music.

The Gramophone

Jan 1, 1887

The Gramophone was created by Emile Berliner and stopped using cylinders to record and was the first to use flat discs.

Record Player

Jan 1, 1906

Introduced by RCA Victor, the Record Player was the first to have variable turntable speeds.

LPs (Long Playing Records)

Jan 1, 1948

First released by Columbia records. Led to the creation of the Recording Industry Association of America.

Multitrack Recording

Jan 1, 1962

Multitrack recording experimenting started in the late 1940s. Eventually almost all music was recorded this way.

Cassette Tapes

Jan 1, 1963

The cassette tapes were the most popular form of music playing for several years. It was the first music player that was portable and that was huge.

CDs (Compact Discs)

Jan 1, 1982

Once CDs were released in the USA, it took only three years for them to become the top selling music media in the United States. Eventually in 1999 portable CD players were released.

First Apple Ipod

Oct 23, 2001

The first iPod was a boxy, white plastic-and-stainless steel gadget.
It was about the size of a deck of cards and its slogan was "1000 songs in your pocket".

iTunes

Apr 28, 2003

iTunes was unveiled with the iPod 3g. It went on to sell over a million songs in its first week.

iPhone

Jan 9, 2007

The iPhone was one of the first phones to be linked with iTunes. Now you do not even need music players because you can have all the songs you need on your cell phone.