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Phonograph
The phonograph was invented by Thomas Edison. Sound was recorded by carving grooves into a rotating cylinder or disc, and was played back by moving a stylus through those grooves. The sound was played through either a big horn (left, commonly seen) or through stethoscope-like earphones. Later known as a gramophone -
Jukeboxes
The first automated music selection jukebox, capable of playing multiple records was invented by Hobart C. Niblack in 1918. The apparatus required a nickle to being playing music, leading to the first jukeboxes as we know them to be introduced by the Automated Musical Instrument Company. -
LP Vinyl Records
Long play vinyl, allowing 33 1/3 rpm, as we know it now was introduced by Columbia Records. The advantages that this type of vinyl had over previous versions was that it allowed for a longer playback time per side because of its rpm, and sounded a lot cleaner. -
Radio
Specifically a transistor radio, this refers to the device we use to listen to radio broadcasts, typically for music. These new devices allowed people to listen to music wherever they went.The Regency TR-1 was the first commercially available transistor radio, developed by Texas Instruments (Texas) and I.D.E.A (Indiana). Announced 18 October, 1954 -
Cassette Tapes
Following various incarnations, in 1964 the mass production of the music cassette began in Hanover, Germany, the initial offering consisting of 49 separate titles. However, the first cassette tapes were designed for dictation, featuring speech-quality recording tape. This meant that the music quality wasn't fantastic,. -
Music Television (MTV)
MTV is a television channel that played music videos constantly, guided by television celebrities. It spawned many separate channels, and has come under fire in the last few years for no longer being 'music' television. -
Compact Disc
The initial invention of the Compact Disc is credited to James T Russell for creating the first system to record digital information on optical transparent foil lit from behind by a halogen lamp, the patent being licensed by Sony and Phillips. These two companies finally worked together after a few years of independent development, releasing a standard format disc in 1982 -
Internet (World Wide Web)
The internet, or more specifically, the world wide web, is a huge platform for distributing files, legally or illegally, and many platforms have been built on top of this allowing for even more music sharing. The proposal was announced by British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee. -
The Pirate Bay
The Pirate Bay is a file torrenting site that has been accused of assisting in making copyright content available to the masses. This website allows users to download copyrighted material for free, essentially breaking the law. Piracy is huge problem in the music industry. -
YouTube
Founded by three PayPal employees, Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim. The site allows visitors to watch videos, and registered members to upload, comment, like/dislike, favourite etc. It is the biggest video sharing site to date, and has become crucial for many musicians to share their material on. -
Spofity
Spotify is a music streaming service that allows users to listen to a huge selection of music (along with ads, which are removed for paying users). Founded in 2006 by a team in Stockholm, Sweden. -
iPod
Designed by Apple, and come through many reincarnations and designs, the iPod is arguably the most famous media device ever. It was released in 2001, but until 2004 sales were slow due to price and functionality restrictions (Mac-only). Since it's release the iPod has been given a touchscreen, no screen, made bigger, smaller, then bigger again, all through various ranges.
