Record Cultures: The Transformation of the U.S. Recording Industry. By Kyle Barnett. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2020. 320 pp. ISBN 978-0-472-03877-0.

Abstract

used, discussed and brought to life. Original and ambitious, rich in its diversity of perspectives and objects, this edited volume constitutes an undeniable contribution to the historiography of recorded sound. However, given the global ambition of this industry, more dialogue with previous works could provide information on the national or local specificities of certain developments as well as on their links with other territories and situations. Such perspectives would also point out the resistance to such dynamics, and the scales of circulation, transformation and negotiation that brought together ideas, objects, agents and practices in the early years of sound recording. One may also regret the sometimes list-like effect of certain fashionable concepts such as intersectionality, empire, colonialism, gender, multimediality or mobility, which appear more programmatic than necessary. Nonetheless, these reservations are only a call to continue the good work along the lines outlined in this stimulating volume.