Professor Says Although Edison May Not Have Had the First Sound Recording, He Was a Master of PR

Newswise — In response to news that a recording has been found which predates Thomas Edison’s 1877 recording, long thought to be the oldest, Dr. Blaine McCormick, Associate Dean at Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business, said:

“Scholars have documented more than 20 electric lights prior to Edison’s invention of the electric light bulb. This situation looks to have some parallels. Edison may not have had the first electric light, but he did invent the first mass-capitalized, mass-produced, and mass-marketed electric light. The same could be said for his work with recorded sound. Even if his wasn’t the first recorded sound, he did appear to hold the first press conference, so to speak, and his efforts to popularize recorded sound are unequalled.”