Phonographic Industry: Summit and Decline in the 20th Century

Abstract

By highlighting the Brazilian context as the analytical approach, this article gathers data on the impacts on music consumption brought by the development of the phonographic industry. Since the emergence of the phonograph in the late 19th century until the revolution brought by the digitization and sharing of files in the first decade of the 21st century, this research presents, chronologically, the main devices for sound reproduction or physical music supports that have appeared within this time period, thus creating a record of the technological evolution in the phonographic industry in the 20th century. This article targets the present-day reconfiguration of the means of production and distribution of music, as well as its means of consumption and some of its effects on the industry, the artists and users.