LEADER 04273oam 2200589 450 001 9910819749403321 005 20221010174150.0 010 $a0-231-51008-X 024 7 $a10.7312/wurt13676 035 $a(OCoLC)643556479 035 $a(MiFhGG)GVRL1AFP 035 $a(EXLCZ)991000000000474451 100 $a20060623d2007 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurun|---uuuua 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aElectric sounds $etechnological change and the rise of corporate mass media /$fSteve J. Wurtzler 210 $aNew York $cColumbia University Press$dc2007 210 1$aNew York, N.Y. :$cColumbia University Press,$d2007. 215 $a1 online resource (xi, 393 pages) $cillustrations 225 1 $aFilm and culture series 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 $a0-231-13677-3 311 $a0-231-13676-5 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [291]-366) and index. 327 $tFront matter --$tContents --$tAcknowledgments --$tIntroduction --$t1. Technological Innovation and the Consolidation of Corporate Power --$t2. Announcing Technological Change --$t3. From Performing the Recorded to Dissimulating the Machine --$t4. Making Sound Media Meaningful Commerce, Culture, Politics --$t5. Transcription Versus Signification Competing: Paradigms for Representing with Sound --$tConclusions/Reverberations --$tNotes --$tIndex --$tBack matter 330 $aElectric Sounds brings to vivid life an era when innovations in the production, recording, and transmission of sound revolutionized a number of different media, especially the radio, the phonograph, and the cinema. The 1920's and 1930's marked some of the most important developments in the history of the American mass media: the film industry's conversion to synchronous sound, the rise of radio networks and advertising-supported broadcasting, the establishment of a federal regulatory framework on which U.S. communications policy continues to be based, the development of several powerful media conglomerates, and the birth of a new acoustic commodity in which a single story, song, or other product was made available to consumers in multiple media forms and formats. But what role would this new media play in society? Celebrants saw an opportunity for educational and cultural uplift; critics feared the degradation of the standards of public taste. Some believed acoustic media would fulfill the promise of participatory democracy by better informing the public, while others saw an opportunity for manipulation. The innovations of this period prompted not only a restructuring and consolidation of corporate mass media interests and a shift in the conventions and patterns of media consumption but also a renegotiation of the social functions assigned to mass media forms. Steve J. Wurtzler's impeccably researched history adds a new dimension to the study of sound media, proving that the ultimate form technology takes is never predetermined. Rather, it is shaped by conflicting visions of technological possibility in economic, cultural, and political realms. Electric Sounds also illustrates the process through which technologies become media and the ways in which media are integrated into American life. 410 0$aFilm and culture. 606 $aMass media$xTechnological innovations$zUnited States$xHistory$y20th century 606 $aMass media$xOwnership$zUnited States$xHistory$y20th century 606 $aSound$xRecording and reproducing$xHistory$y20th century 606 $aMass media and history$zUnited States 606 $aRadio$xHistory 606 $aPhonograph$xHistory 606 $aMotion pictures$xHistory 615 0$aMass media$xTechnological innovations$xHistory 615 0$aMass media$xOwnership$xHistory 615 0$aSound$xRecording and reproducing$xHistory 615 0$aMass media and history 615 0$aRadio$xHistory. 615 0$aPhonograph$xHistory. 615 0$aMotion pictures$xHistory. 676 $a303.48/330973 700 $aWurtzler$b Steve J$01675411 801 0$bMiFhGG 801 1$bMiFhGG 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910819749403321 996 $aElectric sounds$94040856 997 $aUNINA