record
A physical medium for storing and reproducing music, or the act of capturing a performance.
In Depth
A record (or recording) is both the physical object (vinyl disc, CD, digital file) and the captured performance it contains. The technology of recording transformed music from an ephemeral art that existed only in the moment of performance to something that could be preserved, reproduced, and distributed worldwide.
Thomas Edison invented the phonograph in 1877, and the technology evolved through wax cylinders, shellac 78s, vinyl LPs, cassette tapes, CDs, and digital files. Each format change altered how people consumed music. The vinyl LP allowed extended works, the cassette enabled personal playlists, and digital streaming made the entire history of recorded music available on demand.
The first commercially released recording was a cornet solo by Jules Levy in 1878 — played into Thomas Edison's phonograph and pressed onto a tinfoil cylinder.