An investigation of how audio formats have long shaped the ways we create and consume music.

From Brown Wax to Bytes is an accessible and surprising history of audio formats and the indelible imprint they have left on music over the last one hundred fifty years. Formats—be it Edison’s phonograph or file-sharing—have revolutionized how we listen to and think about music, going so far as to influence the music being made. Technological advancements have created waves that have rippled through every aspect of the music industry: from the working lives and creative decisions of composers and performers, to radically reshaping our listening habits. In this brilliant, original survey, Eva Moreda explains not only how, ultimately, the formats we listen to have helped fashion our musical identities, but what we can learn from the past, and where the future might take us.