Electric sounds : technological change and the rise of corporate mass media

"Electric Sounds" focuses on the innovations in the electronic production and transmission of sound in the 1920s and 1930s and their explosive impact on the American mass media.

In clear and engaging prose, Stephen Wurtzler recounts the film industry's conversion to sound, the rise of radio networks and advertising-supported broadcasting, the creation of a federal regulatory framework, and the merger of several film, radio, and recording companies into powerful conglomerates.

Proving that "the ultimate form technology takes is never predetermined, but instead the result of struggles between conflicting visions of technological possibility in economic, cultural, and political realms," "Electric Sounds" illuminates an era that revolutionized the role sound media would play in America.