Consuming and collecting records in Spain, 1896–1905

Abstract

This chapter draws upon the five major surviving collections of Spanish early recordings in order to attempt to reconstruct who bought wax cylinders in Spain around 1900, what their motivations were and what their listening and collecting practices looked like. It discusses how record buyers were still a small, privileged minority in Spain at the time, and examines how collecting might have helped developed ways of listening focused on music appreciation rather than on purely replicating a collector’s live music experience. It also analyzes home recording practices, which were a significant part of phonograph marketing strategies at this time.