On December 7, 1877, the world of music changed forever – and with it human history.

Standing in his kitchen laboratory in a small New Jersey town, Thomas Edison had no idea that he had just ignited the most powerful, the most pervasive mass medium of the twentieth century; one that would change forever the way we live, think, work and play.

On that fateful day, with the invention of a quirky little tin-foil contraption to record sound, a revolution was born. Not since Gutenberg’s printing press more than 500 years ago, has a single invention so completely transformed western civilization.

Today, we cannot imagine what our world would be like without recorded music. It is the invention that spawned radio, movies, television, the digital age, computers and the internet.

On Record is a television series that tells the story about the impact of recorded music for the first time; how the world’s most universal mass entertainment medium gave birth to popular culture; how music became immortal.

Told as a narrative tapestry, weaving the words of today’s living legends together with the memorable musical moments, the landmark cultural events, the inspiring inventions and innovations, the extraordinary creative genius of yesterday and today; the wow moments.

On Record illustrates how, in little more than a century, recording technology has moved from the first wax cylinders to digital downloads. And how these extraordinary changes have come to re-define, not only music, but who we are.

It is the story of the twentieth century. On Record, The Soundtrack of our Lives™.