TOEFL Experts Reading Practice 41
No invention was more fundamental to the development of the recording industry than the phonograph. Created in 1877 by Thomas Edison, the phonograph featured a conspicuous flaring horn about 12 inches (30 centimeters) tall, through which sound was projected. The original device played phonographic cylinders, which were soon replaced by records. A record is a disc etched with physical grooves representing the sounds to be replicated. When the disc was rotated at a certain speed, it caused vibrations in a stylus, or needle, that tracked the grooves. These vibrations were then picked up and amplified by a diaphragm, which transmitted sound to the flaring horn. Later versions of the phonograph, beginning in the 1920s, featured an electronic system for translating stylus vibration into sound (these electronic devices became known as “record players” or “turntables”). However, the basic mechanisms for recording sound on a rotating disc and reading it with a stylus have remained essentially unchanged from the original invention.
The phonograph was originally marketed as a business and legal services device. Edison’s sales strategies targeted businesspeople, attorneys, and anyone else who might use shorthand or dictation as a means of recording ideas or spoken testimony. However, the phonograph eventually found its primary market elsewhere: the recording of sound for entertainment purposes. This market started with “phonograph parlors,” the first of which appeared in 1889 in San Francisco. Customers would go to parlors and order a selection to be played for a nickel. This system was the precursor of the modern-day jukebox. Within a decade, nearly every major city in the United States had at least one phonograph parlor.
During the period 1890–1940, the recording industry was dominated by three companies: Victor, Columbia, and His Master’s Voice, or HMV. By 1900, the industry was selling over 3 million records per year in the United States. The next two decades saw great prosperity in the industry, which attracted competition from a host of smaller producers. The competitors began undercutting each other’s prices, while the phonograph itself was facing stiff competition from a new technology: radio. Radio programs offered special programming not available on records and featured a seemingly endless variety of available music. This caused many customers to stop purchasing records and to listen to the radio instead. During the 1920s, revenue from the sale of recorded music fell by 50 percent as a result of these developments, which were followed by the onset of the Great Depression in late 1929. Many producers went out of business. It was not until the late 1930s, with the rising popularity of the combination radio-phonograph, the growing use of recorded sound in “talking” movies, and the recovery of the economy, that the recording industry began to recuperate.
The industry then experienced a boon in the 1940s. During World War II, the demand for recorded music for use in the United States armed services skyrocketed, leading to a temporary surge in the sales of recorded music despite rationing among consumers back home. At the same time, several lawsuits were brought forth by musicians against radio companies, who paid a royalty to the copyright owner (usually the studio) whenever recorded material was played. No royalty was paid to the musicians themselves. This led to a musicians’ strike that lasted over two years, causing difficulties for the recording studios in the short term. However, the studios rebounded quickly when the strike ended, and radio broadcasters, the chief competitors to recording studios, now faced having to pay royalties to songwriters for every song they played.
The late 1940s also saw the introduction of an important new technology: “high fidelity” recording, which enabled sound recording over the complete range of audible frequencies with very little distortion. This technology allowed for the recording of sound that was much more authentic with respect to the original musical performance than was previously feasible. High fidelity, or “hi-fi,” also enabled entire albums to be recorded on a single disc, rather than just one or two songs. Unfortunately, this development led to some exploitation by recording studios. If a song was discovered to be a success, either due to frequent purchases or due to radio popularity, the studio sometimes decided not to release the song as a single, which cost a fraction of a complete album. This forced consumers interested in buying the music to purchase the entire album at a much higher price.
No invention was more fundamental to the development of the recording industry than the phonograph. Created in 1877 by Thomas Edison, the phonograph featured a conspicuous flaring horn about 12 inches (30 centimeters) tall, through which sound was projected. The original device played phonographic cylinders, which were soon replaced by records. A record is a disc etched with physical grooves representing the sounds to be replicated. When the disc was rotated at a certain speed, it caused vibrations in a stylus, or needle, that tracked the grooves. These vibrations were then picked up and amplified by a diaphragm, which transmitted sound to the flaring horn. Later versions of the phonograph, beginning in the 1920s, featured an electronic system for translating stylus vibration into sound (these electronic devices became known as “record players” or “turntables”). However, the basic mechanisms for recording sound on a rotating disc and reading it with a stylus have remained essentially unchanged from the original invention.
The phonograph was originally marketed as a business and legal services device. Edison’s sales strategies targeted businesspeople, attorneys, and anyone else who might use shorthand or dictation as a means of recording ideas or spoken testimony. However, the phonograph eventually found its primary market elsewhere: the recording of sound for entertainment purposes. This market started with “phonograph parlors,” the first of which appeared in 1889 in San Francisco. Customers would go to parlors and order a selection to be played for a nickel. This system was the precursor of the modern-day jukebox. Within a decade, nearly every major city in the United States had at least one phonograph parlor.
During the period 1890–1940, the recording industry was dominated by three companies: Victor, Columbia, and His Master’s Voice, or HMV. By 1900, the industry was selling over 3 million records per year in the United States. The next two decades saw great prosperity in the industry, which attracted competition from a host of smaller producers. The competitors began undercutting each other’s prices, while the phonograph itself was facing stiff competition from a new technology: radio. Radio programs offered special programming not available on records and featured a seemingly endless variety of available music. This caused many customers to stop purchasing records and to listen to the radio instead. During the 1920s, revenue from the sale of recorded music fell by 50 percent as a result of these developments, which were followed by the onset of the Great Depression in late 1929. Many producers went out of business. It was not until the late 1930s, with the rising popularity of the combination radio-phonograph, the growing use of recorded sound in “talking” movies, and the recovery of the economy, that the recording industry began to recuperate.
The industry then experienced a boon in the 1940s. During World War II, the demand for recorded music for use in the United States armed services skyrocketed, leading to a temporary surge in the sales of recorded music despite rationing among consumers back home. At the same time, several lawsuits were brought forth by musicians against radio companies, who paid a royalty to the copyright owner (usually the studio) whenever recorded material was played. No royalty was paid to the musicians themselves. This led to a musicians’ strike that lasted over two years, causing difficulties for the recording studios in the short term. However, the studios rebounded quickly when the strike ended, and radio broadcasters, the chief competitors to recording studios, now faced having to pay royalties to songwriters for every song they played.
The late 1940s also saw the introduction of an important new technology: “high fidelity” recording, which enabled sound recording over the complete range of audible frequencies with very little distortion. This technology allowed for the recording of sound that was much more authentic with respect to the original musical performance than was previously feasible. High fidelity, or “hi-fi,” also enabled entire albums to be recorded on a single disc, rather than just one or two songs. Unfortunately, this development led to some exploitation by recording studios. If a song was discovered to be a success, either due to frequent purchases or due to radio popularity, the studio sometimes decided not to release the song as a single, which cost a fraction of a complete album. This forced consumers interested in buying the music to purchase the entire album at a much higher price.