The Gramophone Company and The Columbia Phonograph Company merged in
1931 to become EMI: the Apple of its day. Organized chronologically,
this richly illustrated resource tells the incredible story of the
development of sound recording throughout the acoustic era (1877-1925),
the electrical era (1925-45), the magnetic era (1945-75), and the
digital era (1975-present), and it showcases specially commissioned
photography of the beautiful, iconic, and rarely seen objects housed
within the diverse collections of the EMI Archive Trust.
Recording equipment, playback devices, catalogues, artist files,
records, master tapes, radios, and televisions are all here, accompanied
by obsessively detailed specifications and intriguing archival
photographs. Interspersed with the images, in-depth texts tell the
complete stories of the pioneering advances in the evolution of sound
technology, from the invention of the "Gramophone" method to the
development of electronic signal amplifiers, and from the arrival of
magnetic tape recording to the advent of CDs and the dawn of the digital
age.