ABSTRACT
While the technologies essential to the recording of sound were established in the late nineteenth century, it was not until the 1950s that recordings became the primary sector of the music industry, particularly in the various genres of popular music. Coincidentally, the second half of the twentieth century saw a swift increase in the range and volume of sociological interest in music, much of which centered on the analysis of the effects of recorded music on various audiences, and on the processes and impacts of the recorded music industry.
