9781422277386

Tech 2.0

By the early 1900s, an industry arose around recording the work of popularmusicians and selling the records to consumers. They could play the music in their homes whenever they wanted. Then ra- dio technology, first used to transmit signals in Morse code, began to improve. The new technology allowed for voices to be broadcast for miles. The first commercial radio station in the United States went on the air in 1920. In the years that followed, stations began to play both live and recorded music. By the 1930s, people who could afford them could buy radios for their cars, giving them music on the go. Over the decades, radios became smaller and ran on batteries, mak- ing it possible to hear music wherever a radio signal could reach. As radio technology changed, so did the way music companies

The advent of portable radios helped people carry their music with them.

12