FIRST COMMERCIAL USES

The first commercial use of the early phonographs was in coin-operated machines. Such machines were very popular in Victorian times and included machines which displayed a series of photos of women undressing, mechanized one-man-band-type things which would play a short song, mechanical banjos which would pluck a tune and so on.)
Colombia, which quickly became one of the first “majors,” got its start in 1889, leasing one of the first 5-cent jukeboxes (or nickelodeons) to owners of fairgrounds, penny arcades and similar places. (The company was so named because it initially served the District of Colombia/ Maryland area). By the early 90s they had a catalogue of over 100 different titles. The first recordings produced commercially were sold to jukebox operators, not to the public. Colombia even had a series they called the “Tough Series,” consisting of what could be called “racy” records which they shipped for use in “coin-slot phonographs” located in taverns or saloons where only men were allowed.
As with the early days of videotapes— when they were mostly just rented, not purchased, by consumers— record companies set very high prices for records, but the owner of a “coin-slot” would then get to charge people each time they wanted to hear a song.
For awhile in the 1890s, most major cities saw venues spring up called “Automatic Phonograph Parlours” which consisted entirely of numerous coin-operated phonographs. In these parlours, customers would line up at rows of listening stations which had each had two tubes you would put in your ear. Requests were made to an operator through a speaking-tube, who would then put on one of up to 150 titles available. The patrons would be billed for each song (or comedy piece or whatever) they heard, except for in certain parlours where some selections were free—although these “free” ones contained a brief spoken advertisement at the beginning or at the end. (This is not much different from a brief trend of the nineteen-nineties where people could get free minutes on their cell-phones, as long as they were willing to listen to a brief ad every two minutes…)
As for what was on all these records back then, mainly one could only hear the most popular or novel music or crudest comedy routines, all appealing to the lowest common denominator (i.e. the widest buying public). Thus, with a few exceptions, most of the music that exists on record before 1900 hardly represents the highest quality or best performers of music from that era. (The most recognizable songs from this era are probably Hello Ma Baby and Sweet Adeline, which were both big hits in 1898-1899.) The range of what could be recorded on early popular records was also quite limited. To ensure the most plays before a cylinder wore out, comedy routines were shouted very loudly, and only the loudest instruments (mainly brass bands) were recorded. Vocal groups, such as the “barbershop” or gospel quartets which were popular at the time, often had their records advertised as being “loud and distinct.”
The late 90s also saw the heyday of John Philip Sousa and his famous marching band. His songs sold massive amounts of sheet music as soon as they came out, and since his was a loud brass band, he was also able to sell tons of records. You can still find Victor records of his from around 1900 for one or two dollars in junk shops, and they are truly LOUD records when played on a real phonograph. The most stunning thing is the clarity of all the instruments—some are clearly louder than others, and when the band builds to a climax, the whole record gets louder. There’s no doubt that the best way to listen to recordings of Sousa’s band is on a good acoustic (wind-up) phonograph (much as rock and roll from the 50s is best heard in mono, not simulated stereo). Acoustic phonographs reproduce sound in the purest form– the artist’s sound made the stylus cut a groove, then on playback the groove recreates the sound directly and physically, without first converting the sounds into electromagnetic or digital signals (which level off the volume and range before turning the signals back into sound.)

RECORDS IMPROVE

There was a major global recession between 1890 and 1894 or so, which set back to some degree the advance of the fledgling record companies. One exception however was the Berliner Gramophone Company (which later became Victor), set up by Emile Berliner, a German inventor who emigrated to the U.S.
Berliner was the first to perfect the hard flat disc as opposed to cylinder, and most importantly, was the first to mass-produce records. As with so many other technologies, from cars to books, mass-production was the essential step in enabling mass-consumption.
Even during the harsh recession of the early 90s, Berliner managed to sell 1000 gramophones and 25 000 records in 1893. His competitors could still only produce at most a few copies of each performance on a cylinder, making it almost impossible to match Berliner’s production volume.

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