-
Phonograph
Phonograph was the first thing that was able to play music and the first thing it played was Mary had a little lamb. -
Microphone
Thomas Edison made the first microphone by loosely packing carbon granules in a confined space, Hughes discovered that sound vibrations resulted in varying electrical currents and a more balanced reproduction. This was a big breakthrough as it was the first hing to be able to record sound. -
Headphones
Utah Mormon and electrician Nathaniel Baldwin's rudimentarily constructed, but sonically potent, cans. Baldwin initially crafted his "radio earphones" out of copper wiring and an operator's headband. This allowed people to listen to music without everyone around hearing which has many benefits. -
Victor Orthophonic Victrola Phonograph
this Victor product's lid-top feature remains the template for turntable and was a huge step up of quality for music and the acoustic still sounds good to this day. -
Magnetic tape
Magnetic tape allowed you to record where ever you want and was a big step as it allowed a lot more people to make music and was ablw to cut it up and was more compact.