Until Thomas Edison invented the phonograph in 1877, only those who attended a concert could hear musical performances. Edison, looking for a way to record telephone messages, invented a machine that used sound vibrations to form grooves in a foil-wrapped cylinder. When the user switched to playback mode, the needle moved up and down in the grooves as the cylinder rotated, causing a diaphragm to vibrate and create sound waves. Gradually the industry changed how it reproduced music, replacing this acoustical method with electrical, magnetic, and, later, optical devices.

Cylinder Phonograph
Edison Phonograph Co.
circa 1890

During the 1880s, Edison and others worked to improve the quality of sound and make the phonograph easier to use. Wax cylinders, invented by Alexander Bell, Chichester Bell, and Charles Sumner Tainter, lasted longer and provided better sound than foil-covered cylinders. Electrical motors operated at a more consistent speed than the original crank-operated cylinders.

Following their demonstration at the Chicago Exposition in 1893, phonographs became increasingly popular for playing recordings of music and drama.

Graphophone
Standard Talking Machine Co.
Chicago, Illinois
Patented 1900

In 1877, Emil Berliner invented the turntable for playing flat pre-recorded discs. His graphophone generated sound via side-to-side movements along a spiral groove in the disc. Unlike the Edison machines, it could not record. Because discs were cheaper to produce, plus easier to use and store than cylinders, consumers switched to turntable machines for playing music. By World War I, the cylinder phonograph had disappeared from the market.

Excelda Portable Phonograph
Thorens
Switzerland
circa 1935

Called a cameraphone on account of its shape, this portable phonograph has a crank-operated turn-table that plays 78 rpm records.

4-Speed Portable Record Player
Masterwork (Columbia Records)
1950s-1965

Frustrated that playing a recorded symphony required numerous interruptions to change 78 rpm records, Dr. Peter Goldmark invented long-playing (33 1/3 rpm) records in 1945. Making these records work required a change in materials to stronger vinyl, new diamond needles, and a lighter tone arm. RCA introduced its own new format, smaller 45 rpm records, two years later. By the 1950s, all record companies were offering popular records in the 45 rpm format and classical and movie soundtracks in the 33 1/3 rpm format. To play all these formats, phonograph makers adopted Goldmark's switchable stylus and variable speed turntables with new solid state (transistor) technology. This phonograph could be purchased for $19.95 in 1965 (equivalent to about $136.00 today).

Wire Recorder
Webster-Chicago Co.
Circa 1945

In 1898, Danish inventor Valdemar Poulsen created a telephone recorder that used the variable current produced by the telephone transmitter to create a matching pattern of local magnetization in a steel wire. Because wire recorders were compact, were reliable under all kinds of weather conditions, and could record for a long time on reusable wire, the military purchased them for use in World War II. After the war, Webster continued to produce them for the consumer market until 1956, when tape machines supplanted wire recorders.

Portable Reel-to-Reel Tape Recorder
Valiant
Japan
1965

Germany developed high-quality tape recorders during World War II. After studying captured German models, Ampex introduced reel-to-reel tape recorders with magnetic film applied to thin plastic tape. Singer Bing Crosby not only invested in the company but, in October 1947, was the first to use pre-recorded tapes to replace live radio broadcasts. Because they were easy to edit, tape recordings soon dominated in professional recording studios. Consumers also liked them because they could put their favorite songs together on one tape.

8-Track Tape Deck
Realistic (by Radio Shack)
1977-1979

Ampex introduced stereophonic tape recorders in 1955. The 8-track tape, introduced in 1964, contained four pairs of stereo tracks. The first two played the equivalent of one LP. The tape then began a second circuit, playing on tracks 3 and 4. The 8-track also introduced consumers to tapes enclosed in a plastic cartridge, which eliminated threading tape onto a reel. The listener could not skip tracks (fast forward) or rewind. Because the tapes were long-playing and easy to use, consumers found 8-track tape players particularly suited to automobiles after Ford included them as an option in 1966.

Walkman Portable Tape Player
Sony
after 1981

In 1962, the Phillips Company developed the cassette tape, with narrower magnetic tape wound on two small wheels inside a plastic casing. Over time, manufacturers improved the quality of the sound and began making casette tape decks for home stereo systems.
With the development of transistors and then integrated circuits, manufacturers were able to make smaller players. Sony was the first to market a personal cassette player equipped with headphones instead of a speaker. The Soundabout was introduced in 1979, but was soon renamed the Walkman. In the first 10 years of production, Sony sold 50 million Walkman players. Sales of pre-recorded cassettes jumped from 32.5% of recorded music sales in 1981 to 76% by 1986.

Portable Compact Disc Player
Sony
mid- to late 1980s

In the 1930s, engineers developed pulse-coded modulation to record sound digitally. Thousands of times per second, the voltage of the electrical current from a microphone is measured and assign
ed a number that can be coded as a series of zeros and ones. The more frequent the measurement, and the smaller the differences between the levels, the more accurate the sound recording. For today's CDs, the music is sampled 41,100 times per second and assigned one of 65,536 possible values.

The advent of integrated circuits in 1959 greatly increased processing power and made pulse-coded modulation recordings commercially feasible. The Phillips Company developed the compact disc, which recorded the binary code on a reflective disc. Smooth areas reflect the light from a laser (ones) while tiny pits do not (zeros). Introduced in 1982, compact discs and players soon took over the market. By 1991, most record companies stopped producing vinyl records.

Toy Juke Box
Japan
1950

In 1889, Leon Glass and William Arnold attached a coin-operated device to an Edison cylinder phonograph equipped with earphones. Listening to one pre-recorded cylinder cost a nickel. 
In 1927, the Automated Musical Instrument Company introduced the first true jukebox, which had an automatic changer that allowed the consumer to select from many records. During the Great Depression, many people could not afford concert tickets or phonographs, but they could afford to play a favorite song on a jukebox. As a result, by the 1940s, three-fourths of all records produced in the United States went into jukeboxes. After World War II, teens turned to jukeboxes at their favorite hangouts for their favorite swing and later early rock tunes.

This wind-up toy jukebox plays music when a penny is placed in the slot.