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Distributing Music Over Telephone Lines (1909)
by Decius at 1:39 pm EST, Nov 9, 2003

] Each musical subscriber is supplied with a special
] directory giving names and numbers of records, and the
] call number of the music department. When it is desired
] to entertain a party of friends, the user calls the music
] department and requests that a certain number be played.
] He releases and proceeds to fix the megaphone in
] position. At the same time the music operator plugs up a
] free phonograph to his line, slips on the record and
] starts the machine. At the conclusion of the piece the
] connection is pulled down, unless more performances have
] been requested.

Turn of the century online music on demand.

RE: Distributing Music Over Telephone Lines (1909)
by flynn23 at 10:55 am EST, Nov 10, 2003

Decius wrote:
] ] Each musical subscriber is supplied with a special
] ] directory giving names and numbers of records, and the
] ] call number of the music department. When it is desired
] ] to entertain a party of friends, the user calls the music
] ] department and requests that a certain number be played.
] ] He releases and proceeds to fix the megaphone in
] ] position. At the same time the music operator plugs up a
] ] free phonograph to his line, slips on the record and
] ] starts the machine. At the conclusion of the piece the
] ] connection is pulled down, unless more performances have
] ] been requested.
]
] Turn of the century online music on demand.

I'm glad you brought this up. It's one of my favorite examples of many things. Innovation. Entrepreneurism. Future-forward looking. But my favorite example of this is the irony of it all. The phone system was indeed created to be a distribution channel for entertainment. It's taken over 100 years for this to happen. And the industry itself is still unsure and timid about moving into this sector.

Think about this for just a minute: It's taken 100+ years to get to music on demand. This in a century that has seen more technological advance than all other history combined. 100+ years of waiting for the simplest idea to become real. And we're still waiting.