SOUND RECORDING TIMELINE 1877 Thomas Edison demonstrates the first phonograph -- a strip of tinfoil
wrapped around a spinning cylinder http://www.nps.gov/edis/home.htm 1887 Emile Berliner patents the gramophone, a device that records on a flat disc 1906 Victrola record player introduced; helps standardize playback speed at 78 rpm 1913 Edison Company stops manufacturing cylindrical recordings, transition to disc is complete 1920s Recording companies switch from mechanical to electrical recording using microphones and amplifiers 1928 Billboard magazine publishes its first charts of popular music http://www.billboard.com/ 1936 Magnetic tape recording invented in Germany 1941-1945 The war effort results in restrictions on shellac and other ingredients used to make records; sales drop dramatically 1945 U.S. armed forces "liberate" the technology behind tape recording 1948-1950 "Battle of the speeds." Columbia introduces 33 1/3 rpm long playing record; RCA introduces 45 rpm 1952 Beginnings of rock and roll; American Bandstand is first broadcast http://www.rockhall.com/ 1953 Sales of high fidelity phonographs increase 1956 Elvis Presley has first number one hit 1963 Phillips introduces the tape cassette and cassette players 1964 The Beatles appear on "The Ed Sullivan Show" 1964 The eight-track tape cartridge is invented 1967 Beatles release Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 1977 Dolby noise reduction invented 1978 Sony introduces the Walkman 1981 Phillips introduces the compact disc (CD) 1981 Debut of MTV, a new channel for record promotion http://www.mtv.com/ 1982 Michael Jackson releases Thriller album 1985 Sales of CDs cause LP sales to drop by 25 percent 1987 Digital audio tape (DAT) appears 1988 CDs outsell LPs 1990s Rap music becomes popular http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/rap.htm 1998 Devlopment of MP3, a format that allows music to be transmitted digitally over the Internet 2000 Napster Internet file-sharing service is created and upsets recording industry; industry mounts campaign to shut Napster down http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/napster/ 2001 Court orders Napster to remove copyrighted material from its site, effectively ending the service | 
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