| Decade |
Recording Industry Developments |
| 1880s |
Thomas Edison gained the patent for the phonograph. |
| 1890s |
Competing technologies between discs and cylinders marked the first decade of
recording as an industry. |
| 1900s |
Discs won the format battle over cylinders as Columbia and Victor began to set industry standards. |
| 1910s |
Early phonograph patents expired, opening the door for many new independent labels. |
| 1920s |
The music industry boomed following the birth of the radio industry and microphone technology. |
| 1930s |
The Great Depression hurt record sales until the emergence of jukeboxes in bars and record prices fell. |
| 1940s |
The introduction of 12" LPs and 7" 45s began to replace 78 rpm records. |
| 1950s |
4-track recording and rock and roll music created new sounds aimed at the teen market. |
| 1960s |
Dance crazes, surf music, British Invasion, Motown, folk and experimental recording broadened pop music. |
| 1970s |
Stereo 24-track recording became the new music industry standard. |
| 1980s |
Era of digital recording redefined production while CDs began replacing vinyl records. |
| 1990s |
After a series of mergers the big six record labels shrunk to four major labels. |
| 2000s |
Digital downloads helped stabilize the music industry's falling sales. |
