Edward Denison Easton (10 April 1856 – 30 April 1915) was the founder and president of the

Columbia Phonograph Company Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the Ame ...

. Under Easton's leadership, Columbia developed from one of many regional subsidiaries of the

North American Phonograph Company The North American Phonograph Company was an early attempt to commercialize the maturing technologies of sound recording in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Though the company was largely unsuccessful in its goals due to legal, technical and financ ...

to one of the United States' three major record companies (along with

Edison Records Edison Records was one of the early record labels that pioneered sound recording and reproduction, and was an important player in the early recording industry. The first phonograph cylinders were manufactured in 1888, followed by Edison's found ...

and Victor Talking Machine Co.) in the early part of the 20th century.

Life and career

Easton was born on April 10, 1856. He began his career as a court reporter before earning a law degree from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

in 1889. It was in this environment of reporting and stenography that Easton became interested in the nascent

graphophone The Graphophone was the name and trademark of an improved version of the phonograph. It was invented at the Volta Laboratory established by Alexander Graham Bell in Washington, D.C., United States. Its trademark usage was acquired successively ...

, then being marketed by the American Graphophone Company (also based in

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

) as a stenographic aid. American Graphophone's technology was consolidated with Edison's phonograph under the

in 1888, and the Columbia Phonograph Company established in January 1889 as one of its first regional subsidiaries. Though Easton and Columbia initially focused on stenography and related business applications, they quickly realized the financial potential of entertainment recording, using the automatic, or 'nickel-in-the-slot' phonograph, recording Sousa's U.S. Marine Band, and whistler John Yorke Atlee. Edward D

Columbia was North American's most successful subsidiary until North American's assignment and effective demise in 1894.

Under Easton's leadership, Columbia began marketing discs in 1901 and ceased manufacturing cylinders in 1912. Easton remained president of Columbia until his death in April, 1915, having expertly navigated the enterprise to the top of the industry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Easton, Edward D. 1856 births 1915 deaths Columbia Records 19th-century American businesspeople