Andre Millard is Director of American Studies and Professor of History at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is the author of Edison and the Business of Innovation and a contributor to National Public Radio's 'Lost and Found Sound'.

'This is an excellent advertisement for an American Studies approach to past attitudes and mores that a less focused approach would lose: cultural history at its best.' History

• Preface; Introduction; Part I. The Acoustic Era: 1. The inventors; 2. A phonograph in every home; 3. The international industry of recorded sound; 4. The music; 5. Recorded sound in the Jazz Age; Part II. The Electrical Era: 6. The machines; 7. Competing technologies; 8. Empires of sound; 9. Swing and the mass audience; 10. High fidelity at last; 11. Rock'n'roll and the revolution in music; 12. The record; 13. The studio; 14. Perfecting studio recording; 15. The cassette culture; Part III. The Digital Era: 16. The media conglomerates; 17. Into the digital era; 18. Consolidation and connectivity in the digital era.

Andre Millard is Director of American Studies and Professor of History at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is the author of Edison and the Business of Innovation and a contributor to National Public Radio's 'Lost and Found Sound'.

'This is an excellent advertisement for an American Studies approach to past attitudes and mores that a less focused approach would lose: cultural history at its best.' History

• Preface; Introduction; Part I. The Acoustic Era: 1. The inventors; 2. A phonograph in every home; 3. The international industry of recorded sound; 4. The music; 5. Recorded sound in the Jazz Age; Part II. The Electrical Era: 6. The machines; 7. Competing technologies; 8. Empires of sound; 9. Swing and the mass audience; 10. High fidelity at last; 11. Rock'n'roll and the revolution in music; 12. The record; 13. The studio; 14. Perfecting studio recording; 15. The cassette culture; Part III. The Digital Era: 16. The media conglomerates; 17. Into the digital era; 18. Consolidation and connectivity in the digital era.

Andre Millard is Director of American Studies and Professor of History at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is the author of Edison and the Business of Innovation and a contributor to National Public Radio's 'Lost and Found Sound'.

'This is an excellent advertisement for an American Studies approach to past attitudes and mores that a less focused approach would lose: cultural history at its best.' History

• Preface; Introduction; Part I. The Acoustic Era: 1. The inventors; 2. A phonograph in every home; 3. The international industry of recorded sound; 4. The music; 5. Recorded sound in the Jazz Age; Part II. The Electrical Era: 6. The machines; 7. Competing technologies; 8. Empires of sound; 9. Swing and the mass audience; 10. High fidelity at last; 11. Rock'n'roll and the revolution in music; 12. The record; 13. The studio; 14. Perfecting studio recording; 15. The cassette culture; Part III. The Digital Era: 16. The media conglomerates; 17. Into the digital era; 18. Consolidation and connectivity in the digital era.