5. Recordings
Richard E. Caplan
The University of Akron
Christopher Burnett
California State, Long Beach
Talking Machine to 33.3 RPM Records
• Thomas Edison
– Phonograph, 1877
• Emile Berliner
– Gramophone, 1887
– RCA Victor
• Joseph Maxfield
– Better sound, 1925
Chicago Historical Society
• Jukeboxes, 1927
• 78rpm standard, ‘40s
Thomas Edison
– Single song per side, 3 min.
long
– “Album” a boxed set of ten
records
Long-Playing Records
• Peter Goldmark, 1947
– Brahms’ 2nd Piano Concerto
– LP (long-playing) 23 min.
• Format battle
Imageafter.com
– CBS’s William Paley, large
LPs, 331/3 rpm
– RCA’s David Sarnoff, 45
rpm, 7 in.
– Both required new players
– Compromise: players that
could play all three formats
Sound Wave
• Stereo, 1956
– Rock ‘n’ Roll
• High Fidelity (HiFi), 1958
– Recording to plastic tape
• “Multiplex” radio
– Mono and stereo together
• Transistors, 1960s
– Marketable tape players
– 4-track and 8-track
– Cassettes
• Sony Walkman, 1979
• CDs, 2000 and iTunes, 2003
– CDRW, music downloading
Working in the Recording Industry
• Artists and Repertoire
– A&R, develops talent
• Operations
– Recording and Producing
• Marketing and Promotion
– Sales, design, tours, etc.
• Distribution
– Getting to retail
Ray Tamarra/Getty Images
• Administration
– Accounting and legal
• Concerts
– Showcase high tech
innovation
Mary J. Blige
The Recording Business
• 5000 companies
– 1 billion recordings a year
– Started in 1913
– Top-sellers, 1940
– Now two dozen charts
• Role of radio
Paul Hawthorn/Getty Images
• LA, NY and Nashville
• Concentrated in large
corporations
• Reliance on blockbuster
hits
• Billboard magazine
Sales and Licensing
• Direct Sales
– Promotional Tours
– Music Videos (80s)
• Music Licensing
– ASCAP, 1914
Scott Gries/Getty Images
• American Society of Composers,
Authors & Publishers
• Enforced royalty payments from radio
• Blanket licensing fee
– BMI, 1939
• Broadcast Music, Inc.
• Licensing group preferred by radio
– Radio plays only licensed music
Kenny Chesney
Types of music people buy
Illustration 5.1
Recording’s Big Four
Illustration 5.2
Protecting Content
• PMRC, 1985
– Parents Music Resource
Center
– Wives of politicians
– Called for warning labels on
explicit content
• RIAA (Recording Industry
Association of America)
• 2 Live Crew, 1990
Lensfusion/morguefile.com
– Member companies control
95% of recorded music
– Agreed to labels, 1986
Who pays for music?
Illustration 5.3
Pirated Music
• Illegal overseas copying
and sales
– As much as 18% of all sales
– $1 billion in lost income
• Internet file sharing
ABC News
– MP3 files, iTunes music
– RIAA vs. Napster, 1999
• RIAA fights back
Click on image to play video
– Sued 261 file sharers, 2003
• Supreme Court ruling
– MGM vs. Grokster, 2005
– Ruled file sharers could be
sued for copyright violation
Technology and the Future
• Digitized music
– Easily transferable
– Easily available
Freerangestock.com
• Technology helps and
hurts the recording
industry
• Persistence of file-sharing
• Policing the Internet?
• Implications for structure of
the industry?
Critical Discussion
1. Is file sharing right or wrong? Why or why not?
2. Will digitized music spell the end of the major
record labels?