Editing Streaming media (section)

==Precursors==
Beginning in 1881, [[Théâtrophone]] enabled subscribers to listen to opera and theatre performances over telephone lines. This operated until 1932. The concept of media streaming eventually came to America.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Reason |first1=Samuel |title=Music Streaming Actually Existed Back In 1890 |url=https://blitzlift.com/music-streaming-actually-existed-back-in-1890/ |website=blitzlift.com |date=6 November 2020 |access-date=27 December 2020 |archive-date=1 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201112651/https://blitzlift.com/music-streaming-actually-existed-back-in-1890/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the early 1920s, [[George Owen Squier]] was granted patents for a system for the transmission and distribution of signals over electrical lines,<ref>{{cite patent | url = http://www.google.com/patents?id=5pV5AAAAEBAJ&dq=1641608| title = Electrical signaling |country=US |number=1,641,608}}</ref> which was the technical basis for what later became ''[[Muzak]]'', a technology for streaming continuous music to commercial customers without the use of radio.

The Telephone Music Service, a live jukebox service, began in 1929 and continued until 1997.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Greene |first1=Bob |title=GETTING PERSONAL WITH THE JUKEBOX |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1987-02-08-8701100626-story.html |work=Chicago Tribune |date=8 February 1987 |access-date=27 December 2020 |archive-date=8 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108000218/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1987-02-08-8701100626-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="pittsburghmagazine.com">{{cite web |last1=Furness |first1=Zack |title=Did You Know Music Streaming Has Roots in Pittsburgh? |url=https://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/did-you-know-music-streaming-has-roots-in-pittsburgh/ |website=pittsburghmagazine.com |date=17 October 2019 |access-date=27 December 2020 |archive-date=4 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204132439/https://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/did-you-know-music-streaming-has-roots-in-pittsburgh/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The clientele eventually included 120 bars and restaurants in the Pittsburgh area. A tavern customer would deposit money in the jukebox, use a telephone on top of the jukebox, and ask the operator to play a song. The operator would find the record in the studio library of more than 100,000 records, put it on a turntable, and the music would be piped over the telephone line to play in the tavern. The music media began as 78s, 33s and 45s, played on the six turntables they monitored. CDs and tapes were incorporated in later years.

The business had a succession of owners, notably Bill Purse, his daughter Helen Reutzel, and finally Dotti White. The revenue stream for each quarter was split between 60% for the music service and 40% for the tavern owner.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bradley-Steck |first1=Tara |title=Complex Link-Up of Phone Lines, Old Phonograph Records : 'Human Jukebox' Spins Sounds for the Heart |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-09-04-mn-1987-story.html |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=4 September 1988 |access-date=27 December 2020 |archive-date=25 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125214037/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-09-04-mn-1987-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> This business model eventually became unsustainable due to city permits and the cost of setting up these telephone lines.<ref name="pittsburghmagazine.com"/>