Emile Berliner (May 20, 1851 – August 3, 1929) originally Emil Berliner , was a German-American inventor. He is best known for inventing the lateral-cut flat disc record (called a "gramophone record" in British and American English) used with a gramophone . He founded the United States Gramophone Company in 1894.
31-421: Francis James Barraud (16 June 1856 – 29 August 1924) was an English painter. He is best known for his painting His Master's Voice , one of the most famous commercial logos in the world, having been adopted as a recording industry trademark used by various corporations including RCA Victor , EMI , HMV , JVC and Deutsche Grammophon . The image, which depicts a dog named Nipper , ear cocked as he listens to
62-426: A Bristol stage set painter. As Nipper had died in 1895, he could not be used as a living model, so Barraud instead worked from an old photo he had. He decided on the name His Master's Voice and presented it to various publishers, hoping there would be "demand for it as a reproduction." However, there was little interest, with one man objecting on the basis that “no one would know what the dog was doing.” Barraud offered
93-694: A helicopter for the United States Army . Henry became disillusioned with helicopters in 1925, and the company shut down. In 1926, Henry Berliner founded the Berliner Aircraft Company, which merged to become Berliner-Joyce Aircraft in 1929. Berliner's other inventions include a new type of loom for mass-production of cloth and an acoustic tile . Berliner, who suffered a nervous breakdown in 1914, also advocated for improvements in public health and sanitation . He also advocated for women's equality and, in 1908, established
124-563: A lightweight rotary engine. Berliner obtained automobile engines from the Adams Company in Dubuque, Iowa, whose Adams-Farwell automobile used air-cooled three- or five-cylinder rotary engines developed in-house by Fay Oliver Farwell (1859–1935). Berliner, his assistant R.S. Moore, and Farwell developed a 36-hp rotary engine for use in helicopters, an innovation on the heavier inline engines then in use. In 1909, Berliner founded
155-618: A livery stable, Berliner became interested in the new audio technology of the telephone and phonograph . He invented an improved telephone transmitter, one of the first types of microphones . The patent was acquired by the Bell Telephone Company (see The Telephone Cases ), but contested, in a long legal battle, by Thomas Edison . On February 27, 1901, the United States Court of Appeals would declare Berliner's patent void and awarded Edison full rights to
186-684: A portrait of George Rose, his maternal uncle, being one of his compositions. He would become a regular exhibitor at the Academy, as well as other institutions, including the Institute of Painters in Oil Colours. An Encore Too Many (1887), one of Barraud's earlier works, was purchased by the Liverpool Corporation and is currently in the collection of the city's Walker Art Gallery . His Master%27s Voice His Master's Voice
217-541: A rotary engine and an early version of the helicopter . According to a July 1, 1909, report in The New York Times , a helicopter built by Berliner and J. Newton Williams of Derby, Connecticut , had Williams "from the ground on three occasions" at Berliner's laboratory in the Brightwood neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Between 1907 and 1926, Berliner worked on technologies for vertical flight, including
248-668: A separate public company in February 1998 that operated across Europe, Australia and Asia, with EMI no longer in control of the 'His Master's Voice' trademark. HMV's retail operations in Hong Kong and Singapore, and subsequent 'His Master's Voice' trademarks, were later sold off. HMV in the United Kingdom would go into administration in December 2018 with JD Sports acquiring the 'HMV' trademark, but Hilco Capital retaining
279-638: A wind-up disc gramophone helped popularize the nascent field of sound recording and brought Barraud worldwide fame. He subsequently established himself as an artist for corporate clients, spending the rest of his career producing dozens of copies of the painting which made his name. Barraud was born in Marylebone, London, on 16 June 1856 into a family of artists and creatives. Both his father, Henry Barraud (1811–1874), and paternal uncle William Barraud (1810–1850) were well-known animal painters. Barraud's patrilineal great-grandfather, Paul Philip Barraud,
310-580: Is an English painting by Francis Barraud in 1899 that depicts a dog named Nipper listening to a wind-up disc gramophone whilst tilting his head . The painting was sold to William Barry Owen of London's Gramophone Company , and would also be adopted as the trademark and logo for their United States affiliate, the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1901. In 1929, the Victor Talking Machine Company
341-403: Is believed to have been created sometime between late 1898 and early 1899, when Barraud filed an application for copyright of his picture of a 'dog looking at and listening to phonograph'. A photograph of the original painting was included with the application. The dog in question was Barraud's late pet, Nipper , whom he had inherited after the premature death of his elder brother Mark (1848–1887),
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#1732779617605372-426: Is difficult to say how the idea came to me beyond the fact that it suddenly occurred to me that to have my dog listening to the phonograph, with an intelligent and rather puzzled expression, and call it His Master's Voice would make an excellent subject. We had a phonograph and I often noticed how puzzled he was to make out where the voice came from. It was certainly the happiest thought I ever had. The original painting
403-739: The Gyro Motor Company in Washington, D.C. The company's principals included Berliner, president; Moore, designer and engineer; and Joseph Sanders (1877–1944), inventor, engineer, and manufacturer. The manager of the company was Spencer Heath (1876–1963), a mechanical engineer who was connected with the American Propeller Manufacturing Company , a manufacturer of aeronautical related mechanisms and products in Baltimore, Maryland. By 1910, Berliner
434-634: The compact disc resulted in EMI retiring the HMV label in favour of EMI Classics , a name that could be used worldwide; however, Morrissey 's recordings were issued on the HMV label until 1992. In June 2003, the formal His Master's Voice trademark transfer took place from EMI Records to HMV Media Group plc. In January 2017, Warner Music Group (who purchased EMI in September 2012) launched Warner Classics digital efforts as 'Dog and Trumpet' due to not having
465-442: The 'His Master's Voice' trademark for the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud , which depicted a dog named Nipper listening to a wind-up disc gramophone and tilting his head . In the original, unmodified 1898 painting, the dog was listening to a cylinder phonograph . In early 1899, Francis Barraud applied for copyright of
496-486: The 'His Master's Voice' trademark rights. Most reissues of former His Master's Voice-pop material previously controlled by EMI are now re-issued on Warner's Parlophone label. Emile Berliner Berliner was born in Hanover , Germany, in 1851 into a Jewish merchant family. Though Jewish, he eventually became agnostic. He completed an apprenticeship to become a merchant, as was family tradition. While his real hobby
527-791: The Victor Company in the United States. In 1919, the Victor Company and the Gramophone Company jointly arranged for Barraud to receive a pension of £250 a year – later increased to £350 in 1924 – as a gesture of appreciation for his services. On 29 August 1924, Barraud died in Hampstead, London and was buried in Hampstead Cemetery . Barraud was first exhibited by the Royal Academy in 1881, with
558-602: The black trumpet with a more aesthetically-pleasing brass horn. In May 1899, he approached the Gramophone Company , whose Berliner gramophones were made with brass horns, at their Maiden Lane office in London, taking with him the photo of his original piece. William Barry Owen, head of the firm, took an interest in the painting and agreed to purchase it on the condition that the original cylinder-based phonograph be replaced with their model of disc-based gramophone. Barraud
589-548: The copyright further afield. His Master's Voice would go on to become associated with the music retailer HMV , a subsidiary of the Gramophone Company. The first HMV store was opened in Oxford Street in 1921, with Barraud amongst those in attendance. In 1931, The Gramophone Company merged with the Columbia Graphophone Company to form Electric and Musical Industries Limited (EMI). Barraud
620-429: The invention. "Edison preceded Berliner in the transmission of speech," the court would write. "The use of carbon in a transmitter is, beyond controversy, the invention of Edison". Berliner moved to Boston in 1877, where he became a United States citizen four years later. He worked for Bell Telephone until 1883, when he returned to Washington and established himself as a private researcher. Berliner also developed
651-535: The original painting using the descriptive working title Dog looking at and listening to a Phonograph . He was unable to sell the work to any cylinder phonograph company. The painting had been originally offered to James Hough, manager of Edison-Bell in London, but he declined, saying "dogs don't listen to phonographs". William Barry Owen, the American founder of the Gramophone Company in England, offered to purchase
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#1732779617605682-503: The painting for £100, under the condition that Barraud modify it to show one of their disc machines. Barraud complied and the image was first used on the company's catalogue from December 1899. As the trademark gained in popularity, several additional copies were subsequently commissioned from the artist for various corporate purposes. In 1967, EMI converted the HMV label into an exclusive classical music label and dropped its POP series of popular music . HMV's pop series artists' roster
713-478: The painting to the Edison Bell company, whose commercial phonograph was depicted within the painting, but again the work was rejected, with James E. Hough of the company's London branch declaring that “dogs don't listen to phonographs.” He had also been turned down by the Royal Academy, who had previously exhibited his work. Having set aside the painting, someone then suggested to Barraud that he should replace
744-650: The pseudonym Arthur Sketchley. Barraud was educated at Ushaw College in Durham and St. Edmund's College in Ware, Hertfordshire. Following in his father's footsteps, Barraud then pursued an artistic education, studying at Heatherley's School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools , where he was the recipient of the silver medal for life drawing. He also studied abroad at Beaux Arts in Antwerp , Belgium. It
775-572: Was acquired by RCA , gaining control of the His Master's Voice trademarks in the U.S. and Canada, as well as Japan until they were divested to JVC during World War II, eventually becoming Victor Entertainment . In 1931, the UK's Gramophone Company merged with Columbia Graphophone to form EMI , which managed the His Master's Voice (HMV) chain of stores. In February 1998, HMV became HMV Group plc,
806-451: Was an eminent chronometer maker of Huguenot extraction, descended from an old French family that came over to England at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes . Another of Barraud's paternal great-grandparents was a miniature painter. Through his mother, Anna Maria Rose, he was the nephew of George Rose (1817–1882), a dramatist, novelist, and humorous entertainer, who wrote under
837-464: Was experimenting with the use of a vertically mounted tail rotor to counteract torque on his single-main-rotor design, a configuration that led to practical helicopters of the 1940s. The building used for these operations exists at 774 Girard Street NW, Washington, D.C., where its principal facade is in the Fairmont-Girard alleyway. On June 16, 1922, Berliner and his son, Henry , demonstrated
868-635: Was invention, he worked as an accountant to make ends meet. To avoid being drafted in the Franco-Prussian War , Berliner migrated to the United States of America in 1870 with a friend of his father's, in whose shop he worked in Washington, D.C. He moved to New York and, living off temporary work such a paper route and cleaning bottles, he studied physics at night at the Cooper Union Institute . After some time working in
899-418: Was moved to Columbia Graphophone and Parlophone and licensed American pop record deals to Stateside Records . In the 1970s, an award was created with a copy of the statue of the dog and gramophone, His Master's Voice , cloaked in bronze, and was presented by EMI Records to artists, music producers, and composers in recognition of selling more than 1,000,000 records. In 1990, the globalised market for
930-399: Was never able to match the success of His Master's Voice and, by 1913, he was struggling financially. Upon learning this, the Gramophone Company's Alfred Clark commissioned a replica of His Master's Voice for The Victor Talking Machine Company. Barraud subsequently developed his own successful enterprise, painting copies of His Master's Voice , many of them for executives and employees of
961-459: Was paid £50 for the altered painting, and another £50 for the copyright (the total being equivalent to approximately £10,000 in 2019). In July 1900, the painting and phrase "His Master's Voice" were registered as trademarks in the United States and Canada by Gramophone inventor Emile Berliner before subsequently being adopted the following year by Eldridge R. Johnson , founder of the Victor Talking Machine Company , later RCA Victor , which extended