Vinyl in the 1950s: The Birth of the LP and the 45 RPM Single

It starts with a speed war. Columbia launches the 33⅓ RPM microgroove LP in 1948, RCA fires back with the 45 RPM single in 1949, and the market settles the question by the early '50s: 33 for albums, 45 for singles. The brittle, noisy 78 RPM shellac disc disappears by around 1958. Vinyl brings three decisive advantages: a playing time long enough to think in terms of albums, a much lower noise floor, and an illustrated sleeve that becomes a genuine selling point. Stereo arrives commercially in 1958. Musically, it's the explosion of rock'n'roll with Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry, the golden age of jazz on Blue Note and Prestige, and landmarks like Miles Davis's Kind of Blue in 1959. Original mono pressings from this decade rank among the most expensive on today's market, often $80 to well over $500 in good condition.