100 years after the image of Nipper, the dog, staring quizzically into a talking machine, was introduced to the world, TELEDUCTION brings you the story of the men and the machines that delivered the gift of music from the concert hall to the household parlor. Using historical text, scholarly interviews, location photography, archival sound, and period artifacts from the Johnson Victrola Museum's extensive collection of over 300 phonographs, thousands of antique advertisements and business archives, His Master's Voice follows the evolution of the fledgling recording industry: from the patent races of the early innovators through the formation of the Victor Talking Machine Company, its sale to RCA and the creation of the English company EMI.

"I was always afraid of things that worked the first time."
- Thomas Edison, describing the test of his Tinfoil Phonograph in 1877

Though Leon Scott is credited with demonstrating that sound could be recorded in 1857, it was Edison who proved in 1877 that it could also be reproduced. He did so by speaking into a flexible diaphragm equipped at one end with a pin. A rotating cylinder, wrapped in tinfoil, recorded the sound vibrations into a pattern. When played back against a "sound box", the original sound was reproduced. Edison soon turned his attention toward perfecting the electric light, leaving the development of the "talking machines" to others for a number of years.

In the years following his discovery, improvements to Edison's original Phonograph design were many, and the race for recognition a bitter one. Alexander Graham Bell, along with his cousin Chichester Bell and Sumner Tainter, patented an improved model, called the Graphophone, in 1886. German-born inventor Emile Berliner was issued the patent for a new lateral recording process in 1887, replacing the early cylinder recording medium, with a flat "disc", the predecessor of Vinyl records.

After the initial melee of improvements to the early recording machines of the late 1800s, competitors were vying for an edge: something to secure their model as the international standard. Sales in ensuing years were slowly increasing, but the full marketing potential of the machines had not yet been realized. Soon after all of that would change, and it would begin with a simple spring and a machinist in New Jersey.

"It was a close race with failure even for me - neck and neck for a long time. I did not win by superior speed; it was a question of endurance."
- Eldridge R. Johnson

Born in 1867 in Wilmington, Delaware, Eldridge Johnson was a technological innovator and brand strategist rather than a musical visionary. After a childhood teacher lowered the family's expectations for his educational future, Eldridge was sent to apprentice in a machine shop in Philadelphia, a trade he continued for years with no idea of the impact he would eventually have on the music world. Like his contemporaries Thomas Edison and Emile Berliner, his innovations would eventually establish him as a forefather of one of the most powerful and succesful industries in the world today.

Johnson's introduction to the "talking machines" occurred in February of 1896, when Henry Whitaker, a representative from the Berliner Gramophone Company of Philadelphia, asked him to design a spring motor for the hand-cranked, disk-model Gramophones designed by Emile Berliner. "The little instrument was badly designed." Johnson later recalled, "It sounded like a partially educated parrot with a sore throat and a cold in the head, but the little wheezy instrument caught my attention and held it fast and hard. I became interested in it as I had never been interested in anything before."

When Johnson, by then the sole owner of a Machine Shop in Camden, New Jersey, accepted the challenge to develop a mechanized motor, the industry standard was set and history was made.

Johnson designed a motor for the Gramophone which operated at a uniform speed, was affordable and functioned quietly, making the hand-cranked predecessors obsolete. His invention "…changed the disc Talking Machine from a toy to a valuable commercial article," Johnson said, "It was the first and most important step in the whole history of the evolution of the disk Talking Machine."

He also improved upon Emile Berliner's recording process, essential to the Victor Talking Machine Company's later success. But the years to come would prove Johnson's true genius was not as an inventor or mechanist, but as a brand strategist and marketing visionary who would change the way the world thought about music, and the machines that could bring the great singers, bands and symphonies of the world into their homes.

"Other opportunities may come to other people but that was the great opportunity and I was ready for it - thanks to a chain of favorable circumstances, one link of which, if missing, would have changed the account totally."
- Eldridge R. Johnson

While American companies were striving for a competitive edge, the European market began to develop at an impressive rate. Berliner was struggling with legal issues that threatened to crumble his business, so he took steps to ensure a foothold outside of the United States. In 1898, Berliner sent recording engineer Frederick Gaisberg to England. Gaisberg founded London's first studio, and began producing recordings to satisfy local markets throughout Europe.

The Gramophone Company, Ltd., was incorporated in 1899, with Berliner serving as a founding director. The company merged all of Berliner's European interests, and acquired Johnson's European patents. In a moment that would prove crucial to the success of the recording industry, founder William Barry Owen purchased "His Master's Voice", the painting that would become one of the most famous trademarks in marketing history. Berliner registered the trademark in America, and it was eventually used for both the Gramophone and Victor Talking Machine companies.

After years of legal struggles with outside agents, Johnson and Berliner joined their American interests in 1901 and the Victor Talking Machine Company was incorporated. It was agreed that Victor would gain marketing rights to America and Japan, while the Gramophone Company of England would provide for Europe and Asia. Victor became synonymous with quality recording worldwide, and was finally acquired by RCA in 1929.

The Gramophone Company merged with the Columbia Graphophone Company in 1931 and became EMI. Both companies continue to have a lasting impact on the industry. Francis Barraud's painting, "His Master's Voice" remains one of the most widely recognized trademarks of all time. The image, fixed in stained glass, still adorns the "Nipper Tower" in Camden, New Jersey, at the original site of the Victor Talking Machine Company.

His Master's Voice is told with the help of scholars and experts representing various areas of expertise, from the development of new consumer markets to the specific makes and modes of Victrolas; from the patent history of the "Talking Machines" to the current state of the recording industry:

	Robert Baumbach Authority on intricacies of the Victor talking Machines, publisher at Mulholland Press, author of "The Victor Data Book" (2002), "Look for the Dog, an Illustrated Guide to Victor Talking Machines" and "Columbia Phonograph Companion, Volume II."
	Barry L. Bayus, Ph.D. Professor of Marketing at Kenan Flagler Business School at University of North Carolina, current research includes "Creating New Markets: The Invention, Development and Evolution of the Phonograph."
	Allen Koenigsberg, Ph.D.  Lecturer in the Classics Department Brooklyn College, past publisher and editor of the "Antique Phonograph Monthly," author of "Edison Cylinder Records, 1889-1912, with an Illustrated History of the Phonograph" and "The Patent History of the Phonograph." Mr. Koenigsberg is widely recognized as leading scholar on patent history of the "Talking Machines."
	Peter Martland, Ph.D. Lecturer in history at University of Cambridge, author of several books on the history of the "Talking Machines", including "Since Records Began: the first 100 years of EMI Records."
	Rupert Perry, Senior Vice President, EMI Recorded Music As one of the top executives at EMI, Mr. Perry has become an expert in the relationship between artist appeal and marketing success in the recording industry. He provides insight into the past, current, and future strategies of artist marketing.
	Steve Smolian Avid collector and professional sound engineer, sound preservationist for over 50 years working on projects for various National and Presidential libraries and services and other archives, appraiser for Library of Congress, Harvard, Columbia University and others.
	Janet Johnson-Hewes The granddaughter of Eldridge R. Johsnon, founder of the Victor Talking Machine Company, Mrs. Johnson-Hewes discusses her grandfather's legacy in personal detail and tells stories passed down among family members over the years.
	Oliver Berliner The grandson of Gramophone inventor Emile Berliner, Oliver provides personal insight into one of the legendary forefathers of the recording industry.

Website Element
Provides expanded information on topics and themes covered in the documentary and as well as links to a vast array of existing resources. www.thetalkingmachine.com