This book explores the fascinating world of the record business, its technology, the music and the musicians from Edison's phonograph to the compact disc. The great artists - Caruso, Toscanini, Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley and their successors - all achieved fame through the medium of records, and in turn have influenced the recording industry. But just as important are the record producers, those invisible figures who decide from behind the scenes how a record will sound.

The history of recording is also the history of record companies: the book follows the vicissitudes of the multinational giants, without neglecting the small pioneering labels which have brought valuable new talents to the fore.