Today I will be talking about the invention of the phonograph/vinyl record. The vinyl record has been a big major part of media in American History dating all the way back to 1857 to the present time we live in and has seen major changes over the course of the history.
The first phonograph was invented in 1857 by a man named Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville. He patented this idea the same year. This is the oldest known recording to date. Almost 20 years later, Thomas Edison invented his version of the phonograph. This was invented as a result of the development of his two other inventions the telephone and the telegraph. To help make the Phonograph the player would have a needle that would have a sharp point and would move against paraffin paper. The paper would later be changed to the same material from a metal cylinder. This machine would contain two diaphragm needles with one for recording and one for the playback of sounds. This was the first real attempt at a major produced phonograph player.
Jump forward to 1948 and we are introduced to the first commercial vinyl records we know today. The vinyl record style that we know today is made of microgroove plastic and something called polyvinyl chloride, and this material form was developed in the early 1900s. The record that was introduced was the standardized 33 speed record that we buy today. Before this there was a 78 speed record however it could only hold a couple of songs and not a full album. On the 33 speed record it could hold a full albums worth of material.
33 Speed Record by Journey
Right around when the 33 speed vinyl record was introduced, 45's were released and created which had about 4 to 5 minutes on each side of the record. This was mainly introduced because this is when singles would be released from albums with just two songs on it. These vinyl records were mainly popular among teens and young adults.
45 Speed Record by Bruce Springsteen
Soon records would be face competition from two different sources in which people would get their music. In 1979, the Sony Walkman cassette player was introduced as a way of playin music on the go. Some people describe it as "the first iPod". This allowed you to not have to carry around big records which were not portable and their players were big at the time. CD's also were something that took out vinyl records since these were portable players of music. When computers came to prominence this allowed people to make mixtapes of different songs. This took out vinyl for a long time but it wasn't over for vinyl records.
In 2008 vinyl sales rose for the first time since 1984 by 89% which was amazing since it had been nearly 25 years since sales were this good. A vinyl record resurgence was occurring and a new generation of music fans and enthusiasts were buying vinyl records by the artists of the time. Vinyl records changed music forever since this was one of the first ways of bringing music into your home and it changed communication media forever by allowing people to engage with music.
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