Editing Edison Records (section)

== Beginnings of the commercial record industry ==
In 1887, Edison turned his attention back to improving the phonograph and the [[phonograph cylinder]]. The following year, the Edison company debuted the ''Perfected Phonograph.'' Edison introduced wax cylinders approximately {{convert|4+1/4|in|cm}} long and {{convert|2+1/4|in|cm}} in external diameter, which became the industry standard.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UHk5AQAAIAAJ&q=diameter+%22edison+cylinder%22 |author1=Frow, George L |author2=Sefl, Albert F. |title=The Edison cylinder phonographs 1877-1929. |publisher=G. L. Frow |location=Sevenoaks, Kent, England |date=1978 |page=185 |quote="..the general dimensions of the Standard cylinder were {{cvt|4+1/4|in|disp=sqbr}} length, {{cvt|2+1/4|in|disp=sqbr}} external diameter, and internal diameter from {{cvt|1+5/8|to|1+3/4|in|disp=sqbr}}, although there are small variations found, and extra long cylinders were marketed by some manufacturers |isbn=0-9505462-2-4}}</ref> They had a maximum playing time of about 3 minutes at 120 [[Revolutions per minute|RPM]], but around the turn of the century the standard speed was increased to (first 144) and then 160 RPM to improve clarity and volume, reducing the maximum to about 2 minutes and 15 seconds. Several experimental wax cylinder recordings of music and speech made in 1888 still exist.

The wax entertainment cylinder made its commercial debut in 1889 (a relatively well-preserved and freely available example from that year is the ''Fifth Regiment March'', played by Issler's Orchestra<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/fifthreg1889 |title=''Fifth Regiment March'' played by Issler's Orchestra, 1889, MP3 at archive.org |work=Internet Archive |access-date=17 September 2014}}</ref>). At first, the only customers were entrepreneurs who installed nickel-in-the-slot phonographs in amusement arcades, saloons and other public places. At that time, a phonograph cost the equivalent of several months' wages for the average worker and was driven by an electric motor powered by hazardous, high-maintenance wet cell batteries. After more affordable spring-motor-driven phonographs designed for home use were introduced in 1895, the industry of producing recorded entertainment cylinders for sale to the general public began in earnest.

Blank records were an important part of the business early on. Most phonographs had or could be fitted with attachments for the users to make their own recordings. One important early use, in line with the original term for a phonograph as a "talking machine", was in business for recording dictation. Attachments were added to facilitate starting, stopping, and skipping back the recording for dictation and playback by stenographers. The business phonograph eventually evolved into a separate device from the home entertainment phonograph. Edison's brand of business phonograph was called ''The Ediphone''; see [[Phonograph cylinder]] and [[Dictaphone]]. Edison also holds the achievement of being one of the first companies to record the first [[African-American]] quartet to record: the [[Unique Quartet]].