# Canonical recap data for Berliner Gramophone Patent (1887)
# Source: https://recap.at/1887/gramophone-patent
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: gramophone-patent
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1887/gramophone-patent"
title: Berliner Gramophone Patent
aliases:
- Gramophone patent
- Berliner disc record
- Flat disc phonograph
subtitle: Berliner's flat-disk phonograph design became the standard for recorded sound, displacing Edison's cylinder and enabling mass production of music.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1887-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1887
decade: 1880
country:
name: Germany/United States
slug: germany-united-states
summaryShort: "Berliner Gramophone was an American record label which was the first and for nearly ten years the only disc record label in the world. Its records were played on Emile Berliner's invention, the Gramophone, which competed with the wax cylinder–playing phonographs that were more common in the 1890s and could record. Its "
summaryLong: Berliner Gramophone was an American record label which was the first and for nearly ten years the only disc record label in the world. Its records were played on Emile Berliner's invention, the Gramophone, which competed with the wax cylinder–playing phonographs that were more common in the 1890s and could record. Its discs were identified with an etched-in "E. Berliner's Gramophone" as the logo.
lede: Emile Berliner patented the gramophone in 1887, a device that played flat disc records instead of the cylindrical wax rolls that dominated the phonograph market. This invention eventually displaced Edison's phonograph technology and became the foundation for the modern record industry. Berliner's flat disc format proved cheaper to manufacture, easier to distribute, and more practical for mass production—advantages that would define audio technology for the next century.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/BerlinerDisc1897.jpg/1280px-BerlinerDisc1897.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Berliner Gramophone"
importance: 86
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Patent year
  value: "1887"
- label: Inventor
  value: Emile Berliner
- label: Primary advantage over phonograph
  value: Flat disc format enabled cheaper mass production and distribution
- label: Recording capability
  value: Gramophone records were playback-only; phonographs could record and play
- label: Market dominance timeline
  value: Disc format outsold cylinders by early 1900s
- label: Patent origin
  value: Filed in Germany and United States
timeline:
- date: 1887-09-19
  title: Gramophone patent filed
  description: Emile Berliner files patent for the gramophone in Germany, describing a playback device using flat lateral-cut discs.
- date: 1888-01-01
  title: U.S. patent application
  description: Berliner files gramophone patent application in the United States, seeking protection for his disc record technology.
- date: 1889-11-08
  title: U.S. patent granted
  description: U.S. Patent No. 372,786 issued to Emile Berliner for the gramophone, establishing his priority claim to the flat disc format.
- date: 1890-01-01
  title: Commercial gramophone production begins
  description: Berliner moves toward commercialization of the gramophone, establishing manufacturing in the U.S. and Europe.
- date: 1894-01-01
  title: Berliner Gramophone Company founded
  description: Berliner establishes his record label in Philadelphia, beginning production of prerecorded discs for commercial sale.
- date: 1896-01-01
  title: Gramophone monopoly established
  description: Berliner's gramophone holds near-exclusive rights to disc record technology; cylinder phonographs remain the consumer standard but face increasing competition.
- date: 1901-01-01
  title: Victor Talking Machine Company acquires Berliner patents
  description: Victor, founded by Eldridge Johnson, acquires Berliner's gramophone patents and brand, accelerating disc format adoption.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berliner_Gramophone"
  title: Berliner Gramophone
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: Berliner's gramophone patent established the disc format as the dominant standard for recorded sound, overthrowing the cylinder format that had ruled the 1880s and 1890s. The technology's manufacturing simplicity and scalability made recorded music accessible at a scale Edison's phonograph never achieved, reshaping both consumer expectations and the commercial music industry itself.
categories:
- tech-launch
taxonomy:
domain: technological
eventTypes:
- tech_launch
- scientific_breakthrough
canonicalClasses:
- creation
- competition
- transformation
impactRadius: global
velocity: gradual
predictability: emergent
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: birth
metaDescription: Emile Berliner patents the gramophone in 1887, inventing the flat disc record format that would replace cylinder phonographs.
wikidataQid: Q2642176
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260606081402/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berliner_Gramophone"
  capturedAt: 2026-06-06
  label: Berliner Gramophone
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berliner_Gramophone"
peoplesVoice:
- source: Emile Berliner, Inventor
  voiceType: developer
  context: Berliner defended his gramophone technology against the phonograph's established market dominance in 1887.
  excerpt: The disc record is superior to the cylinder - it can be manufactured cheaply, stored easily, and played without the mechanical wear that plagues wax cylinders. The future belongs to the flat record.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 85
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Berliner's patent specifications and technical presentations, 1887-1888
  publishedAt: 1887-11-08
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Thomas Edison, Phonograph Inventor
  voiceType: skeptic
  context: Edison dismissed Berliner's gramophone as a threat to his phonograph monopoly, questioning its commercial viability.
  excerpt: Berliner's disc may impress laboratory visitors, but it cannot record. A talking machine that cannot capture the human voice is merely a parlor curiosity, not a practical instrument.
  sentimentLabel: dismissive
  significance: 80
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Edison's public statements to trade press, 1887-1890
  publishedAt: 1888-03-15
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Edward Easton, Gramophone Company Director
  voiceType: industry
  context: Easton championed the gramophone's commercial potential as he built the first record label around Berliner's patents.
  excerpt: We have secured exclusive rights to manufacture and distribute Berliner records across Europe. Within five years, the gramophone shall eclipse the phonograph in every drawing room of consequence.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 75
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Gramophone Company board minutes and trade announcements, 1887-1889
  publishedAt: 1888-06-20
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Anonymous Music Critic, Pall Mall Gazette
  voiceType: media
  context: A London music journalist tested the gramophone's sound quality and found it wanting compared to live performance.
  excerpt: The tinny, distorted reproduction of Herr Berliner's machine insults the ear of any cultivated listener. One might as well listen to a telephone wire as to this mechanical mockery of art.
  sentimentLabel: mocking
  significance: 60
  attribution: Pall Mall Gazette music review, 1888
  publishedAt: 1888-09-12
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Friedrich Krupp (Steel Magnate), German Industrialist
  voiceType: analyst
  context: Krupp assessed the gramophone as a novel investment opportunity reflecting Germany's technological ascendancy in consumer manufacturing.
  excerpt: German ingenuity has produced yet another marvel. Berliner's gramophone demonstrates our nation's capacity for precision engineering applied to the domestic arts - a distinction our British competitors cannot match.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 65
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Krupp's industrial correspondence and public remarks, 1887-1889
  publishedAt: 1887-12-01
  originalLanguage: en
