Historical evidence tells us that music has existed for thousands of years. It wasn't until 1877 that "Thomas Edison made the first recording of a human voice ("Mary had a little lamb") on the first tinfoil cylinder phonograph" (Recording Technology History, 2005). This invention opened a can of worms for music lovers and it has only gotten better for the end listener. Within the past 8 years there has been a huge shift for the "Brick and Mortar" commerce. The purpose of this essay is to describe the supply chain of music media when in a "Brick and Mortar" environment and how web sites have modified the supply chain.
As time progressed after the first recording of a human voice was performed, again Thomas Edison developed the first marketable music media that was known as the "Gold Molded" cylinders. Since this invention, the physical media has evolved drastically, eventually and not until fairly recently, marketable in a non-physical file format. This new non-physical file format is responsible for the huge shifts in the retail "Brick and Mortar" business environment.
Before there were p2p-shared networks and web sites, "Brick and Mortar" companies that sell music in the form of CD's and Cassettes would use the standard supply chain shipping process. By definition, "the supply chain represents the flow of materials, information, and finances as they move in a process from supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer" (Performance Management, 2005). An example of a "Brick and Mortar" business that sells CD's and Cassettes would be The Wherehouse. The Wherehouse has contracts with various Wholesale companies who sell music products to The Wherehouse. These Wholesale companies purchase their music from the Manufacturer who purchases ...