From Marconi to Mobile Listening

Inventors and their Inventions

Guglielmo Marconi sends the first wireless signal via transmitter. Created wireless radio system.

Lee De Forest develops a wireless system by creating the audion tube to amplify sound transmission. Credited for helping make FM radio.

David Sarnoff invents concept of broadcasting & advertising in radio.

Alexander Graham Bell creates the system of telephones to allow for people to talk to each other over sound waves

AM radio is used as the primary way to air radio stations, but its popularity diminishes as TV became more popular. This is turn led for AM radio to become more music-oriented to be able to compete.

Edwin H. Armstrong invents the frequency modulation (FM) radio, which is superior to AM radio's quality and little static. FM radio becomes popular as the FCC allowed for FM radio to do stereo broadcasting. The FCC also required that required all car radios to have FM receiving capability.

Internet radios began in late 1990's, when streaming via the Internet was feasible in transferring music

Internet radio can be heard via computer, tablets, some MP3 players, and smartphones.

Non-licensed radio stations, such as Pandora & Spotify, have been streaming music, talk, news, and entertainment over the Internet. These services allowed for users to create their own playlist for their enjoyment.

The FCC encourages radio stations to serve their communities with local broadcast television and radio services.

The FCC also granted licenses to several hundred low power FM stations to offer nonprofit organizations such as religious groups, academic institutions and schools, and community organizations the opportunity to reach local audiences with just 100 watts of power.

Radio Act of 1927 formed the Federal Radio Commission (FRC) which regulated radio and created channels for radio which causes less interference between channels

The Copyright Act of 1907 protected inventors, engineers, and
scientists for their intellectual product

American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) established in 1914 to collect royalty fees for musicians, composers, and lyricists.

Communications Act of 1934 created the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which replaces the FRC, whose job is to regulates the programming that was allowed on radio.

Satellite Radio is used by XM Satellite Radio & Sirius Satellite Radio as a way to provide long distance coverage to listeners.

Both services provide ad-free music, sports, talk, and children's advertising.

Slow subscriber rates led to the merger of SiriusXM in 2008, now known as Sirius XM radio.

During the late 90's, many Internet users went to various peer-to-peer sharing sites, such as Napster, to download music by copying files from other users.

The music industry claims to lose a substantial amount of revenue due to so many people getting their music for free instead of buying CD's.

If a copyright expires, then anyone can use the material without asking or paying a fee. The material is considered to be in public domain

Educators and others can use copyrighted material without getting permission or paying a fee if their use is non-commerical and limited. This is refereed to as fair use, but to be considered under fair use there are four issues to be considered: the purpose of the original work, the characteristics of the original work, the amount of the original work used, the possible impact the use might have on the market of the original work.

The Digital Millennium Act (DMCA) is passed in 1998 to protect the creative works in this digital era. It prohibits the manufacturing and distributing of devices or procedures that are designed to violate copyright laws. It also required Internet service providers to identify customers who are using these file-sharing websites.