The Dark Ages -- Before Rock or Radio

  
1831 First general revision of the copyright law. Music added to works protected against unauthorized printing and vending. First term of copyright extended to 28 years with privilege of renewal for term of 14 years.  
1877 Thomas Edison invents the phonograph
1881 Charles Tainter at the Volta Lab made the first lateral-cut records, but without any practical machine to play them back.
1887 Emile Berliner replaces Edison's wax cylinder phonograph with the audio disc. The flat disk gramophone (record player) is patented.
1889

Edison and Columbia begin selling recordings. It is the birth of the record industry.

Nov. 23 -- San Francisco Gin Joint Hears the World's First Jukebox

1896 The debut of the Cherry Sisters -- The sisters Effie, Addie, Ella, Jessie and Elizabeth, of Marion, Iowa were by contemporary accounts the worst act in vaudeville. Their act resulted in a 1899 Iowa court decision that affirmed the right of journalists to criticize a public performance to the point of ridicule. This was affirmed in 1901 by the Iowa Supreme Court, saying, "If there ever was a case justifying ridicule and sarcasm...it is the one now before us..."  
1897 Music protected against unauthorized public performance.  
1902 First movie theatre opens in Los Angeles, CA.  
1902 Edison invents the EULA (End User Licensing Agreement) and sets maximum resale price of recordings.  
1911 The moving coil loudspeaker is invented by Edwin S. Pridham and Peter L. Jensen. They name it "Magnavox".  
1914 ASCAP founded by Victor Herbert to "enforce" the 1909 Copyright law. And by "enforce", we mean sue everyone who allowed music to be played for profit on their premises and hadn't paid ASCAP.  
1915 New! -- 78 rpm records  
1916

New! -- The "Radio music box" from American Marconi

Variety organizes an effort to curb payola, then known as paying sheet music performers to plug songs. Money that was formerly used to advertise songs in trade magazines (such as Variety) was increasingly spent on song pluggers.

 
1917

First jazz record. "Livery Stable Blues" by the all-white Original Dixieland Jazz Band from New Orleans (from The Origins of Big Band Music)

World War I begins. US Navy appropriates all commercial and amateur radio equipment, dashing the Original Dixieland Jazz Band's hope for major market exposure.

 
1919

Hero -- Gennett Record Company in Indiana began to make lateral-cut records and was sued by Victor Co. Smaller labels such as Okeh, Vocalian, Compo joined Gennett in defending its claim that lateral-cut was in the public domain. Gennett won case 1921 before Judge Learned Hand and won appeal 1922 before Judge Augustus Hand, cousin of Learned. Gennett became one of the largest record producers in the nation, releasing some of the earliest jazz records of Jelly Roll Morton and opened the gates for smaller independent companies to record their own records.

GE forms Radio Corporation of America (RCA) to take over assets of American Marconi. RCA is formed after the U.S. Government gives control of the wireless industry back to the public sector following World War I. RCA gains the assets of American Marconi and becomes the controlling body of the patents belonging to General Electric, Westinghouse, United Fruit and AT&T.

Willie Dixon born July 1, 1915 in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

 

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