RCA was a major record label, but also committed to investing in consumer entertainment technology. In this 1935 article, the company boasted about its promising R&D work in television. Today record labels spend zero dollars on tech & are thus at the mercy of Apple, Google, etc.
It's rarely remembered today, but RCA was the Apple and Microsoft of its day—making innovative devices to enhance consumer entertainment. It's no coincidence that music industry revenues stagnated after the major labels stopped investing in innovation. https://www.thedailybeast.com/what-the-music-industry-could-learn-from-1920s-rca
More examples of RCA innovation. The same company that signed Duke Ellington and Elvis Presley to its record label also invented the most advanced consumer electronics of the era. They used the technology to enhance artistry, rather than treat it as generic 'content'.
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