Before the record was invented, the phonograph came first. Thomas Edison invented the phonograph in 1877 and it was originally made out of tin foil. He filed for a patent in December of 1878 and it was issued in February of 1878. He made an all-wax cylinder as a record for the phonograph but the sound waves kept cutting off. The first song he attempted to played on it was, "Mary Had a Little Lamb". After Edison showed off his new invention the North American Phonograph Company opened up. They hoped to sell lots of phonographs and get tons of profits from it, however, the phonograph was not developed enough, so business did not boom as expected.
Thomas Edison and his first phonograph