Music store Allan's is still in existence,  as Allans Billy Hide. The Melbourne CBD store is now located at 152 Bourke St.

It wasn’t only the main city centres which offered records and record players. Bennett’s Melody Shop, Bondi Junction, in Sydney’s east sold records and a range of phonographs.

During the 1940s and ’50s there were numerous small recording studios in the big cities where anyone could record a one-off acetate disc or perhaps have a small run pressed.

Goodwin’s Music Warehouse, 59 Gouger St in Adelaide, offered a range not only of various types of 'Phonos’ but also pianos, player pianos, discs and player rolls.

In the first half of the 20th century, music was commercialised on 78 rpm shellac discs which could hold a little over three minutes on each side.

Assistant Sound Curator Nick Henderson speaks with Zenith Records Director Paul Rigby about the current state of the vinyl market in Australia.

A recent acquisition in the recorded sound section of NFSA included a curious copy of a Seekers LP from the late 1960s.