1920-1929
Jukeboxes and Talking Pictures
1920 KDKA becomes the first commercial radio station.
1921 Sales of records begin to decline as a direct result
of radio.
1921 Independent record companies win the right to make
lateral cut records, a technique previously owned by Victor.
1925 Electrical amplification is introduced for recording
and playback. Developed by Bell Telephone Laboratories the technology is sold
under licence and allows the recording of a much larger frequency range.
1925 The first electrically-recorded discs and
Orthophonic phonographs go on sale.
1925 Vitaphone Co. is formed to produce sound for the
first talking pictures.
1926 Vitaphone Co. use 16-inch acetate-coated shellac
discs recording at 33 1/3 rpm and kept in synch with film reel by electric
motors. The disc size and speed allows it to last the same length of time as a
reel of film.
1926 Charles Brush sold the first piezo-electric
featherweight stylus.
1928 The Jazz Singer the first commercial sound film with
audible dialogue.
1927 The jukebox was introduced by the Automatic Music
Instrument Co.
1928 John Baird works on an early form of television
recorded onto 'Phonovision' wax discs.
1928 the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) buys out the
Victor Talking Machine Company to form RCA Victor and converts many of the
record factories into radio production houses
1929 RCA began making 33 1/3 rpm "transcription" discs of vinyl "Vitrolac"
for the use of radio station pre records
