From Cylinders to Streaming

The history of recorded sound stretches back over a hundred and fifty years, starting with a device that could “record” a voice on a piece of paper. Today, we can enjoy lossless streaming anywhere we go… but getting here wasn’t easy. In this episode, we worked with Qobuz, the high quality music platform, to chart the history of audio mediums, from cylinders made of tin foil and wax, to vinyl, 8-track, cassette, CDs, and mp3s. Along the way, we explore the innovations and quirks of each format, with memories sent in from our listeners and the 20K team. Featuring Adam Tovell from the British Library Sound Archive. Follow Dallas on Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn. Watch our video shorts on YouTube, and join the discussion on Reddit and Facebook. Sign up for Twenty Thousand Hertz+ to get our entire catalog ad-free. If you know what this week's mystery sound is, tell us at mystery.20k.org Rediscover music with Qobuz. Sign up for a 1-month trial period at qobuz.com. Episode transcript, music, and credits can be found here: https://www.20k.org/episodes/fromcylinderstostreaming Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices