Emile Berliner, Inventor of the Disc Record and Gramophone
Inventions That Birthed The Modern Music Industry
Emile Berliner (illustration) invented the flat disc record and gramophone, both refinements of Thomas Edison’s wax cylinder recordings and phonograph. Berlin’s inventions birthed the modern music industry.
In 1970 my favorite pop group was the Jackson 5. Their hit single record, “ABC,” was my absolute favorite song and it was the only pop music I knew (I was kid). Besides hearing the song on the radio I could own a copy. Alpha-Bits cereal was giving away a free copy of the hit single from the back of a cereal box. I cut it off the box and played on my portable record player. I don’t think Emile Berliner foresaw his invention as a free gift on a box of cereal.
Emile Berliner was born in Hanover, Germany, on May 20, 1851. In 1870 he moved to the US to work as a clerk for a dry-goods store. He became an American citizen in 1881.