The 1920’s marked the start of the modern music era. With the introduction of the music recording industry and new technologies for creation and distribution, music could reach more people than ever before. The first radio was made by Guglielmo Marconi in 1894 and by 1910 the first public radio stations began broadcasting. Recording of music switched from acoustical recording to electrical, making music sound much more natural. Improvements in the recording industry in turn led to the rise of independent record labels. These record labels then expanded the music industry by taking risks and being adventurous in their choices of artists beginning the modern music era. Ragtime was a music genre characterized by work songs, plantation songs,