Emile Berliner - The Man Who Made Music Portable

Emile Berliner, an inventor, transformed the way we record and listen to music with his creation of the gramophone and disc records.

Born in Germany, Berliner was one of 13 children. He attended school until the age of 14, then began working to help support his family, taking jobs in places like a tie shop and a printer. In 1870, he accepted a job at a dry-goods store in Washington, D.C. and moved to the United States. After three years, he relocated to New York City in search of better opportunities, working by day and attending night classes. He eventually became an assistant in the chemical laboratory of a scientist, a job that sparked his interest in invention.

When Berliner returned to Washington in 1876, he set up a small lab in his apartment. That year, the city celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Part of the celebration was a demonstration of Alexander Graham Bell’s brand-new invention: the telephone.

The demonstration inspired Berliner to think about improving the device. He created a transmitter that amplified the voice, making telephone calls clearer and more suitable for long distances. Thomas Watson, Bell’s assistant and the recipient of the first-ever phone call, recognized its value. Watson bought the rights to the invention and hired Berliner as a research assistant at the American Bell Telephone Company (ABT Co.).

Berliner worked at ABT Co. for seven years. During that time, he became an American citizen and got married. In 1881, he returned to Germany with his brother Joseph to start the Telephon-Fabrik Berliner, the first European telephone company. He later came back to Washington as a private researcher.

In 1886, Berliner began work on the invention that would define his career. By then, Thomas Edison had already created the phonograph in 1877, which used a stylus to trace grooves on a rotating cylinder. In the late 1880s, Berliner developed a similar device, but with one key change: the stylus traced grooves on a flat disc instead of a cylinder. This design produced less sound distortion, was easier to duplicate, and could be mass-produced.

Berliner called the discs “records” and the machine that played them the “gramophone.” The first gramophones sold to the public were produced by a toy manufacturer and even used chocolate records. Realizing the potential for more serious uses, Berliner founded the United States Gramophone Company in 1895.

The story of Berliner’s gramophone is also a story of business evolution. Over time, a later version of his Gramophone Company was acquired by the Victor Talking Machine Company, which eventually became part of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). RCA went on to dominate the music industry, especially with the creation of the 45-rpm record, which became a standard for decades.

One of Berliner’s lasting contributions is also visual. In 1900, he registered a trademark: a dog listening to a gramophone, head tilted to the side. This image became famous as the RCA logo, symbolizing “His Master’s Voice.” While RCA no longer uses the original design in its main branding, the company still includes two small dogs in a corner of its website as a tribute.

Emile Berliner’s ideas reshaped the music industry. His gramophone and records allowed music to be recorded, distributed, and enjoyed around the world, laying the foundation for record labels, hit singles, and modern popular music. Without his work, the careers of countless artists, from early jazz musicians to modern pop stars, might never have been heard beyond a live performance. His inventions changed how people experienced sound, turning music into a shared cultural force that crossed borders and generations.

References:
“Emile Berliner (May 20, 1851 – August 3, 1929).” Emile Berliner Inventor of the Gramophone, www.gramophonemuseum.com/berliner.html.
“Emile Berliner: Articles and Essays: Emile Berliner and the Birth of the Recording Industry: Digital Collections: Library of Congress.” The Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/collections/emile-berliner/articles-and-essays/emile-berliner-biography/.
“NIHF Inductee Emile Berliner Invented the Microphone and Gramophone.” NIHF Inductee Emile Berliner Invented the Microphone and Gramophone, www.invent.org/inductees/emile-berliner.
“Our Famous RCA Dogs.” RCA , global.rca.com/us_en/nipper-chipper-1720-us-en.

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