[78-L] fwd: Phonographic Record Industry - Inquiry

[David Lennick]

I received this request over the weekend. I've already suggested that he get 
hold of The Fabulous Phonograph and From Tinfoil to Stereo, and told him that 
there was not much of an "industry" as such in 1892..anyone here have some 
other advice?  DL

livinc at rpi.edu wrote:
> Hello,
>    My name is Chris and I am conducting a research assignment for my
> Professor Ken Simons @ RPI (a college in Troy, NY) on the frequency and
> nature of technological disruption in particular industries.  There are
> 47 industries total that my professor is studying.  One particular
> industry that I am going to perform my thesis paper on this semester is
> on the phonographic record industry. 
> 
> With regards to the phonographic record industry,Ken Simons is trying to
> developa systematic way to develop the number of records or hits by
> different phonographic record companies, to get a better estimate of
> their market shares over time. We are looking for a listing of companies
> that produced phonographic records by year, and how many they produced
> each year.  Also, more specifically, I am going to try to compile market
> share based on such findings.    
> 
> The reasoning behind such research is to determine if smaller independent 
> firms were able to enter into the recording industry because of
> advancements in technology that made it cheaper to produce music.  
> 
> Do you know of any trade journals or lists of companies that would guide
> us in the correct direction?  Is Billboards a good place to start my
> research project?
> 
> 
> Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.
> 
> Sincerely,
> Chris Livingston

Follow-up e-mail:

livinc at rpi.edu wrote:
> Hi again,
>   Thank you very much.  Thank you for your help.  It would be much
> appreciated if you could forward along some of my questions.  
>    In particular, I am looking for the time period after WWII during the
> 1950s during the rock and roll era.  Also again during the 1970s when a
> lot of the independents were being bought out and the industry was
> consolidating.    
>    
>   Just as you have mentioned, I do want to split up my research.  So I
> would like to start from the beginning with how the record industry
> formed.  For instance 1877. From there, I how did the market react again
> during 1892?
> 
> One common theme I am trying to really focus in on for my research is did 
> technology force out the incumbent firms while new startups came along OR 
> did the incumbants still retain a good portion of market share throughout 
> all the years?  Maybe focusing in on key events of the within the
> industry would guide me in the right direction.  
> 
> 
> Thanks for all your help.
> 
> 
> Chris
>