123-505: Vik Records was a subsidiary of RCA Victor Records established in April 1953. In the Billboard issue of the 11th of that month, it was announced that RCA was launching, namelessly, a new label that was the company's first to be distributed independently. Billboard opted to use the name Label "X" for the new company. The name was kept, as the label began to hire a series of staffers and decide on
246-448: A Times music critic stated: ... the time has come for serious musical criticism to take account of performances of great music reproduced by means of the records. To claim that the records have succeeded in exact and complete reproduction of all details of symphonic or operatic performances ... would be extravagant ... [but] the article of today is so far in advance of the old machines as hardly to admit classification under
369-401: A de luxe price. Later, Decca Records introduced vinyl Deccalite 78s, while other record companies used various vinyl formulations trademarked as Metrolite, Merco Plastic, and Sav-o-flex, but these were mainly used to produce "unbreakable" children's records and special thin vinyl DJ pressings for shipment to radio stations. The playing time of a phonograph record is directly proportional to
492-572: A gramophone record , especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near the outside edge and ends near the center of the disc. The stored sound information is made audible by playing the record on a phonograph (or "gramophone", "turntable", or "record player"). Records have been produced in different formats with playing times ranging from
615-540: A "remarkable turnaround" with the success of artists including Britney Spears , the Dave Matthews Band , Natalie Imbruglia , the Verve Pipe , Robyn , SWV , Christina Aguilera , NSYNC , and Foo Fighters . A distribution deal with Loud Records yielded hit records from urban artists including Big Punisher , Wu-Tang Clan and Mobb Deep . In 2002, BMG fully acquired J Records , which it had founded in 2000 as
738-508: A 10-inch 78 in 1922 for Victor . Longer musical pieces were released as a set of records. In 1903 His Master's Voice in England made the first complete recording of an opera, Verdi 's Ernani , on 40 single-sided discs. In 1940, Commodore released Eddie Condon and his Band's recording of " A Good Man Is Hard to Find " in four parts, issued on both sides of two 12-inch 78s. The limited duration of recordings persisted from their advent until
861-559: A British punk rock label, and Jive Records , whose roster included Schooly D , Kool Moe Dee , and DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince . By the end of the fiscal year 1988, RCA Records had gross revenue of $ 236 million in the United States, the most profitable year in the label's history. The album The Way It Is by Bruce Hornsby and the Range , sold more than three million copies, and
984-587: A basic, inexpensive turntable called the Duo Jr., which was designed to be connected to their radio receivers. According to Edward Wallerstein (the general manager of the RCA Victor Division), this device was "instrumental in revitalizing the industry". The production of shellac records continued throughout the 78 rpm era, which lasted until 1948 in industrialized nations. During the Second World War,
1107-415: A broader and smoother frequency response, which produced a dramatically fuller, clearer and more natural-sounding recording. Soft or distant sounds that were previously impossible to record could now be captured. Volume was now limited only by the groove spacing on the record and the amplification of the playback device. Victor and Columbia licensed the new electrical system from Western Electric and recorded
1230-549: A competing vinyl format, the 7-inch (175 mm) 45 rpm disc, with a much larger center hole. For a two-year period from 1948 to 1950, record companies and consumers faced uncertainty over which of these formats would ultimately prevail in what was known as the "War of the Speeds" (see also Format war ). In 1949 Capitol and Decca adopted the new LP format and RCA Victor gave in and issued its first LP in January 1950. The 45 rpm size
1353-455: A different supporting cast. They also issued two studio cast versions of Show Boat , one with Robert Merrill, Patrice Munsel , and Rise Stevens in 1956, and the other with Howard Keel , Anne Jeffreys , and Gogi Grant in 1958. Contrary to the way the show is written, both of these Show Boat albums featured all-white casts, reflecting the era of racial segregation. In 2006, Sony BMG merged its Broadway music labels, including RCA Victor, to
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#17328991245431476-668: A direction. Label X was officially formed on April 20, 1953. Though wholly owned and operated by RCA, it had its own independent distribution. Joe Carlton was the head of the new company. RCA spent the rest of the year trying to establish an identity for "X", eventually settling on cover records of R&B hits and quasi-R&B sides by artists such as The Three Chuckles , Eddie Fontaine , and Louis Jordan . Other artists who released material on "X" included Betty Clooney , Terry Fell , Helen Grayco , Gordon Jenkins , Richard Maltby Sr. , Norman Petty , and Andy Williams , whose first solo records were issued on this label. The label adopted
1599-649: A few minutes to around 30 minutes per side. For about half a century, the discs were commonly made from shellac and these records typically ran at a rotational speed of 78 rpm , giving it the nickname " 78s " ("seventy-eights"). After the 1940s, "vinyl" records made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) became standard replacing the old 78s and remain so to this day; they have since been produced in various sizes and speeds, most commonly 7-inch discs played at 45 rpm (typically for singles , also called 45s ("forty-fives")), and 12-inch discs played at 33⅓ rpm (known as an LP , "long-playing records", typically for full-length albums ) –
1722-421: A governor and says that spring drives had replaced hand drives. It notes that: The speed regulator was furnished with an indicator that showed the speed when the machine was running so that the records, on reproduction, could be revolved at exactly the same speed...The literature does not disclose why 78 rpm was chosen for the phonograph industry, apparently this just happened to be the speed created by one of
1845-618: A joint venture called RCA/Ariola International. In December 1985, the RCA Corporation was purchased by General Electric (GE), with the acquisition completed in June, 1986. GE sold its 50% interest in RCA Records to its partner Bertelsmann and the company was renamed BMG Music for Bertelsmann Music Group. BMG revived the RCA "lightning bolt" logo that was retired in 1968 to differentiate RCA Records from
1968-829: A joint venture with Clive Davis . Davis was then named chairman of RCA Records and J Records under the auspices of a new entity, the RCA Music Group , which included RCA Records, J, and Arista Records . In 2004, Sony and BMG merged their music divisions to create Sony BMG , and in 2007, the RCA Music Group was rebranded as the BMG Label Group . In 2006, Sony BMG merged its former Broadway music and classical labels, including Red Seal and Gold Seal, to Sony Masterworks . Legacy Recordings , Sony Music Entertainment's catalog division, reissued classic albums from RCA. In April 2008, former Zomba Label Group president and CEO Barry Weiss
2091-748: A niche resurgence in the early 21st century, growing increasingly popular throughout the 2010s and 2020s. Phonograph records are generally described by their diameter in inches (12-inch, 10-inch, 7-inch), the rotational speed in revolutions per minute (rpm) at which they are played ( 8 + 1 ⁄ 3 , 16 + 2 ⁄ 3 , 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 , 45, 78), and their time capacity, determined by their diameter and speed (LP [long play], 12-inch disc, 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 rpm; EP [extended play], 12-inch disc or 7-inch disc, 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 or 45 rpm; Single, 7-inch or 10-inch disc, 45 or 78 rpm); their reproductive quality, or level of fidelity (high-fidelity, orthophonic, full-range, etc.); and
2214-783: A number of recordings with the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra , which was usually drawn from either Philadelphia or New York musicians, as well as members of the Symphony of the Air, and the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera . By the late 1950s, RCA Victor had fewer high prestige orchestras under contract than Columbia had: RCA Victor recorded the Chicago Symphony Orchestra , the Boston Symphony Orchestra , and
2337-515: A period during which RCA Records had notable success in the pop genre, with Christina Aguilera, Kesha , Pink , Kelly Clarkson and Pitbull scoring multiple #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. In May 2011, former Universal Music Group CEO Doug Morris was appointed chairman of Sony Music Entertainment . Focused on A&R, Morris named Peter Edge , president of A&R at RCA and J Records, chairman and CEO of RCA Music Group. Tom Corson
2460-641: A phonograph record that would hold at least 20 minutes per side. Research began in 1939, was suspended during World War II, and then resumed in 1945. Columbia Records unveiled the LP at a press conference in the Waldorf-Astoria on 21 June 1948, in two formats: 10 inches (25 centimetres) in diameter, matching that of 78 rpm singles, and 12 inches (30 centimetres) in diameter. Unwilling to accept and license Columbia's system, in February 1949, RCA Victor released
2583-857: A practice of simultaneously recording orchestras with both stereophonic and monaural equipment. Other early stereo recordings were made of Toscanini's final NBC concerts (never officially issued) and Guido Cantelli respectively, with the NBC Symphony Orchestra; the Boston Pops Orchestra under Arthur Fiedler; and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Fritz Reiner . Initially, RCA used RT-21 quarter-inch tape recorders (which ran at 30 inches per second), wired to mono mixers, with Neumann U-47 cardioid and M-49/50 omnidirectional microphones. Then they switched to an Ampex 300–3 one-half inch machine, running at 15 inches per second (which
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#17328991245432706-526: A recording studio until 1935. Beginning in 1928, Victor built a new recording studio in New York City and in the 1950s and '60s RCA Victor built and operated recording studio facilities in Nashville, Hollywood, and Chicago. In 1977, RCA closed the studios in Nashville and Hollywood; the remaining New York City recording studios were closed in 1993. Phonograph records A phonograph record (also known as
2829-431: A shallower and more closely spaced implementation of the large "standard groove" found on contemporary 78 rpm records, rather than the "microgroove" used for post-World War II 33 1 ⁄ 3 rpm " LP " (long play) records. The format was a commercial failure, partly because the new Victrolas with two-speed turntables designed to play these records were exorbitantly priced, the least expensive model retailing for $ 395.00 in
2952-434: A similarly controversial reputation, derided by some record collectors as "Dynawarp". RCA gradually phased out Dynaflex records and by the end of the 1970s had returned to manufacturing thicker vinyl records. In April 1970, RCA Records announced the first quadraphonic 4-channel 8-track tape cartridges ("Quad-8", later called just Q8). RCA began releasing quadraphonic vinyl recordings in the United States in February 1973, in
3075-584: A small solid circle that fit onto the bottom of the spindle (meaning only one 45 could be played at a time) or a larger adapter that fit over the entire spindle, permitting a stack of 45s to be played. RCA Victor 45s were also adapted to the smaller spindle of an LP player with a plastic snap-in insert known as a " 45 rpm adapter ". These inserts were commissioned by RCA president David Sarnoff and were invented by Thomas Hutchison. Capacitance Electronic Discs were videodiscs invented by RCA, based on mechanically tracked ultra-microgrooves (9541 grooves/inch) on
3198-427: A special release for Record Store Day 2011, Capitol re-released The Beach Boys single " Good Vibrations " in the form of a 10-inch 78-rpm record (b/w "Heroes and Villains"). More recently, The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band has released their tribute to blues guitarist Charley Patton Peyton on Patton on both 12-inch LP and 10-inch 78s. CBS Laboratories had long been at work for Columbia Records to develop
3321-455: A three- or four-speed player (78, 45, 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 , and sometimes 16 + 2 ⁄ 3 rpm); with changer, a tall spindle that would hold several records and automatically drop a new record on top of the previous one when it had finished playing, a combination cartridge with both 78 and microgroove styli and a way to flip between the two; and some kind of adapter for playing the 45s with their larger center hole. The adapter could be
3444-485: A time, with four items per EP, or in a boxed set with three EPs or twelve items. The large center hole on 45s allows easier handling by jukebox mechanisms. EPs were generally discontinued by the late 1950s in the U.S. as three- and four-speed record players replaced the individual 45 players. One indication of the decline of the 45 rpm EP is that the last Columbia Records reissue of Frank Sinatra songs on 45 rpm EP records, called Frank Sinatra (Columbia B-2641)
3567-441: A track from his self-titled debut album (with "The Beehive State" on the flipside). Reprise did not proceed further with the series due to a lack of sales for the single, and a lack of general interest in the concept. In 1978, guitarist and vocalist Leon Redbone released a promotional 78-rpm single featuring two songs ("Alabama Jubilee" and "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone") from his Champagne Charlie album. In
3690-431: A variety known as extended play (EP), which achieved up to 10–15 minutes play at the expense of attenuating (and possibly compressing) the sound to reduce the width required by the groove. EP discs were cheaper to produce and were used in cases where unit sales were likely to be more limited or to reissue LP albums on the smaller format for those people who had only 45 rpm players. LP albums could be purchased one EP at
3813-401: A variety of sizes. As early as 1894, Emile Berliner 's United States Gramophone Company was selling single-sided 7-inch discs with an advertised standard speed of "about 70 rpm". One standard audio recording handbook describes speed regulators, or governors , as being part of a wave of improvement introduced rapidly after 1897. A picture of a hand-cranked 1898 Berliner Gramophone shows
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3936-491: Is derived from the initials of its now defunct parent company, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). RCA Records was fully acquired by Bertelsmann in 1987, making it a part of Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) and became a part of Sony BMG Music Entertainment after the 2004 merger of BMG and Sony; it was acquired by the latter in 2008, after the dissolution of Sony/BMG and the restructuring of Sony Music. RCA Records
4059-644: Is the corporate successor of the Victor Talking Machine Company . In 1929, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) purchased the Victor Talking Machine Company , then the world's largest manufacturer of phonographs (including the famous " Victrola ") and phonograph records . The company then became the RCA Victor Division of RCA. In absorbing Victor, RCA acquired the New World rights to
4182-510: The Boston Pops Orchestra disc featuring Tchaikovsky 's Marche Slave and Ketèlbey 's In a Persian Market . RCA Victor issued boxed sets of four to six 45s, each set providing about the same amount of music as one LP (an extreme example of these 45 rpm boxed sets was the complete 1951 recording of the opera Carmen , featuring Risë Stevens and Jan Peerce , conducted by Fritz Reiner , which consisted of sixteen 45 rpm discs). In
4305-591: The Mercury and ABC-Paramount labels. RCA Victor Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment , a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation . RCA Records is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA 's former long-time rival Columbia Records ; also Arista Records , and Epic Records . The label has released multiple genres of music, including pop , classical , rock , hip hop , afrobeat , electronic , R&B , blues , jazz , and country . The label's name
4428-787: The National Philharmonic Orchestra and recorded in London's Kingsway Hall . In order to publish music in Japan, RCA collaborated with the Victor Company of Japan's publishing wing Victor Musical Industries Inc. in 1975 to found Japanese record label RVC. In October 1976, the RCA Corporation announced the revival of the Nipper/His Master's Voice trademark. RCA Records reinstated Nipper to most (Victor, Victrola , Red Seal and Special Products) record labels (in addition to returning to
4551-685: The Nipper / His Master's Voice trademark for use in Japan. From 1942 to 1944, RCA Victor was seriously impacted by the American Federation of Musicians recording ban . Virtually all union musicians in the US and Canada were forbidden from making recordings during the period. One of the few exceptions was the eventual release of recorded radio broadcast performances from the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini . However, RCA Victor lost
4674-660: The Philadelphia Orchestra during this period; the orchestra's contract with RCA Victor expired during the strike and when Columbia Records settled with the union before RCA Victor, Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphians signed a new contract with Columbia and began recording in 1944. Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra would not return to RCA until 1968. In the spring of 1946, "RCA Victor" replaced "Victor" on its record labels. In 1949, RCA Victor introduced
4797-631: The RCA Thesaurus label at its RCA Recorded Program Services studio in New York City. These recordings were not offered for sale to the general public and were intended solely for use in broadcasts carried over leading radio networks. By 1936, RCA's extensive musical library of recordings was eventually consolidated with NBC's own transcription division. During the 1950s, it included popular music by noted musicians, such as Sammy Kaye , Freddie Martin , Lawrence Welk and John Serry Sr. Besides manufacturing its own records, RCA's Custom Record Division
4920-564: The Victor Talking Machine Company in Camden, New Jersey, whose products would come to dominate the market for several decades. Berliner's Montreal factory, which became the Canadian branch of RCA Victor , still exists. There is a dedicated museum in Montreal for Berliner ( Musée des ondes Emile Berliner ). Early disc recordings were produced in a variety of speeds ranging from 60 to 130 rpm, and
5043-541: The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel was front-page news in The New York Times , which reported: The audience broke into applause ... John Philip Sousa [said]: '[Gentlemen], that is a band. This is the first time I have ever heard music with any soul to it produced by a mechanical talking machine' ... The new instrument is a feat of mathematics and physics. It is not the result of innumerable experiments, but
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5166-591: The soundtrack album from the film Dirty Dancing , which cost RCA $ 200,000 to produce, sold 15.6 million copies in less than two years. Its follow-up, More Dirty Dancing , composed of song tracks which had been left off of the first album, was produced for $ 80,000 and went on to sell more than 5.6 million. RCA's most successful artists during the 1980s included the Eurythmics , Love and Rockets , Joshua Perahia , Rick Astley , Hall & Oates , Dolly Parton , Juice Newton , and Bucks Fizz . In August 1990, Buziak
5289-608: The "B" side. In the 1990s Rhino Records issued a series of boxed sets of 78-rpm reissues of early rock and roll hits, intended for owners of vintage jukeboxes . The records were made of vinyl, however, and some of the earlier vintage 78-rpm jukeboxes and record players (the ones that were pre-war) were designed with heavy tone arms to play the hard slate-impregnated shellac records of their time. These vinyl Rhino 78s were softer and would be destroyed by old juke boxes and old record players, but play well on newer 78-capable turntables with modern lightweight tone arms and jewel needles. As
5412-535: The 1880s. Emile Berliner improved the quality of recordings while his manufacturing associate Eldridge R. Johnson , who owned a machine shop in Camden, New Jersey , eventually improved the mechanism of the gramophone with a spring motor and a speed regulating governor, resulting in a sound quality equal to Edison's cylinders. Abandoning Berliner's "Gramophone" trademark for legal reasons in the United States, Johnson's and Berliner's separate companies reorganized in 1901 to form
5535-409: The 45 became the preferred speed for pop music singles, overtaking U.S. sales of the same material on 78s by 1954, but Columbia's LP prevailed as the favored format for classical music and convenient one-disc "album" collections of eight or more pop songs. RCA Victor finally bowed to the inevitable and announced its intention to issue LPs in January, 1950. Among the first RCA Victor LPs released in 1950
5658-467: The 47-xxxx series), rhythm and blues on orange or cerise (50-xxxx series), and international on light blue (51-xxxx series). This array of colors complicated the production process, and the practice was soon discontinued, all records becoming black. Yellow and red Red Seal records held on until about 1952. The first 45 rpm record manufactured was "PeeWee the Piccolo" RCA Victor 47-0147 pressed December 7, 1948 at
5781-412: The 7-inch 45 rpm micro-grooved vinylite record, marketed simply as the "45". The new format, which had been under development for over a decade, was originally intended to replace 78 rpm discs. By the time RCA Victor unveiled it, the 45 was now competing with the 10-inch and 12-inch 33 1 ⁄ 3 rpm microgroove vinyl " LP " (Long Play) discs introduced by arch-rival Columbia Records in
5904-589: The Boston Pops, whereas Columbia had the Cleveland Orchestra , the Philadelphia Orchestra , and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under contracts. On October 6, 1953, RCA Victor held experimental stereophonic sessions in New York City's Manhattan Center with Leopold Stokowski conducting a group of New York City musicians in performances of George Enescu 's Roumanian Rhapsody No. 1 and
6027-523: The CD-4 format developed by its former subsidiary, the Victor Company of Japan (JVC), and made commercially practical by Quadracast Systems Inc. (QSI). RCA's trade name became "Quadradisc". The CD-4 format required a special cartridge that had a ±1 db frequency response out to 50 kHz, a CD-4 demodulator which decoded the difference between the front and rear channels from a 30 kHz subcarrier, four separate amplifier channels, and four separate speakers for
6150-676: The Nipper/His Master's Voice trademark for which EMI held the rights to in the U.K. and Europe. RCA set up its own British manufacturing and distribution in 1969. RCA Victor issued several spoken word albums in the 1950s and 60s, notably the soundtracks of the films Richard III , A Man for All Seasons and The Taming of the Shrew , as well as complete versions of the National Theatre of Great Britain stage productions of Othello (starring Laurence Olivier ) and Much Ado About Nothing (starring Maggie Smith , who also played Desdemona in
6273-595: The Olivier Othello ). None of these albums have appeared on compact disc, but the films of Richard III , A Man For All Seasons , The Taming of the Shrew and the filmed version of Olivier's Othello have all been issued on DVD. In 1960, RCA Victor announced the Compact 33 double extended play and singles; these were 7 inch records, which played at 33 1/3 rpm. In January 1961, the Compact 33 discs were released simultaneously with their 45 rpm counterparts. The long-term goal
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#17328991245436396-503: The RCA Nashville division and in March, 1995 was replaced by Bob Jamieson, the president of RCA's Canadian division. Jamieson overhauled RCA, streamlining middle management and retooling the label's marketing department. The A&R department was again restructured and the roster of artists further reduced. By the close of the decade, RCA Records had undergone what Billboard described as
6519-589: The Reggae Album of the Year Grammy. In June 2020, the label partnered with the Human Rights Campaign to present the 2020 Pride Benefit Concert, a livestream supporting LGBTQ equality in June. RCA artists including Isaac Dunbar, Cam, and Citizen Queen performed. SZA released the single " Good Days " on December 25. In January 2021, Mark Pitts was appointed president of RCA Records and John Fleckenstein
6642-856: The Sherman Drive plant in Indianapolis. The use of vinyl, which was much more expensive than the gritty shellac compound normally used for 78s, was actually cheaper because of the smaller diameter and greatly reduced bulk of the new records, which required very little raw material. The smaller, lightweight discs were also more economical to store and ship. RCA Victor marketed the 45 as a direct replacement for 10-inch and 12-inch 78 rpm records, which typically played for about three and four minutes per side respectively. The company also released some " extended play " (EP) 45s with playing times up to 7 minutes per side, primarily for vocal collections and light classical selections, as typified by an Arthur Fiedler and
6765-637: The UK and its territories on the HMV label until 1957. RCA also manufactured and distributed HMV recordings on the RCA Victor and special HMV labels in North America. Due to hostilities between Japan and the United States during World War II , ties between RCA Victor and its Japanese subsidiary Victor Company of Japan (Nippon Victor) were severed. JVC's record company is known today as Victor Entertainment and still retains
6888-509: The United States Armed Forces produced thousands of 12-inch vinyl 78 rpm V-Discs for use by the troops overseas. After the war, the use of vinyl became more practical as new record players with lightweight crystal pickups and precision-ground styli made of sapphire or an exotic osmium alloy proliferated. In late 1945, RCA Victor began offering "De Luxe" transparent red vinylite pressings of some Red Seal classical 78s, at
7011-457: The Vik label was discontinued the following year. From the label's beginnings in 1902, and intensifying through the 1940s and 1950s, RCA Victor was in direct competition with Columbia Records . A number of recordings were made with the NBC Symphony Orchestra , conducted by Arturo Toscanini ; sometimes RCA Victor utilized recordings of broadcast concerts (Toscanini had been recording for the label since
7134-773: The available groove length divided by the turntable speed. Total groove length in turn depends on how closely the grooves are spaced, in addition to the record diameter. At the beginning of the 20th century, the early discs played for two minutes, the same as cylinder records. The 12-inch disc, introduced by Victor in 1903, increased the playing time to three and a half minutes. Because the standard 10-inch 78 rpm record could hold about three minutes of sound per side, most popular recordings were limited to that duration. For example, when King Oliver 's Creole Jazz Band, including Louis Armstrong on his first recordings, recorded 13 sides at Gennett Records in Richmond, Indiana, in 1923, one side
7257-518: The case of operas, symphonies and other complete recordings of classical music, there was an interruption every four minutes as one record side ended and another side began. These disruptive "side breaks", a nuisance long familiar to listeners of album sets of classical and operatic 78 rpm records, were minimized by an extremely fast automatic record-changing mechanism that was a core feature of RCA Victor's 45 players. Thanks in large degree to RCA Victor's massive five million dollar advertising campaign,
7380-490: The center and edge of a record are thicker than the playing area, reducing scuff marks during handling and when stacked on a turntable with an automatic record changer. Most competitors quickly adopted the raised label and edges. In 1955, RCA Victor purchased the recording contract of Elvis Presley from Sun Records for the then-exorbitant sum of $ 40,000. His first single for RCA Victor was " Heartbreak Hotel ", recorded in January 1956. Ten million Presley singles were sold by
7503-414: The corner, looking all sad." During the first half of the 1920s, engineers at Western Electric , as well as independent inventors such as Orlando Marsh , developed technology for capturing sound with a microphone , amplifying it with vacuum tubes (known as valves in the UK ), and then using the amplified signal to drive an electromechanical recording head. Western Electric's innovations resulted in
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#17328991245437626-522: The days of acoustic recordings , and RCA Victor had been recording the NBC Symphony since its creation in 1937). After Toscanini retired in the spring of 1954, the NBC Symphony was reorganized later that year as the Symphony of the Air . The orchestra, while no longer connected to NBC, continued to record for RCA Victor, as well as other labels, usually conducted by Leopold Stokowski . RCA Victor also released
7749-602: The depths of the Great Depression . By 1933, the format was abandoned and two-speed turntables were no longer offered, but some Program Transcriptions lingered in the Victor record catalog until the end of the 1930s. During the early days of the Depression, RCA Victor made a number of attempts to create a successful low-priced label to compete with " dime store labels" such as Perfect , Oriole , Banner , and Melotone . The first
7872-520: The earliest jazz and military band recordings. The loudest instruments such as the drums and trumpets were positioned the farthest away from the collecting horn. Lillian Hardin Armstrong , a member of King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band , which recorded at Gennett Records in 1923, remembered that at first Oliver and his young second trumpet, Louis Armstrong , stood next to each other and Oliver's horn could not be heard. "They put Louis about fifteen feet over in
7995-592: The early machines and, for no other reason continued to be used. In 1912, the Gramophone Company set 78 rpm as their recording standard, based on the average of recordings they had been releasing at the time, and started selling players whose governors had a nominal speed of 78 rpm. By 1925, 78 rpm was becoming standardized across the industry. However, the exact speed differed between places with alternating current electricity supply at 60 hertz (cycles per second, Hz) and those at 50 Hz. Where
8118-512: The early summer of 1948. In heavy promotion, RCA Victor sold compact, inexpensive add-on and stand-alone units that played the 45 rpm format exclusively. At first, RCA Victor's 45s were issued on colored vinyl according to the musical genre: contemporary pop music on black vinyl (47-xxxx series), prestigious Broadway musicals and operettas on "midnight blue" vinyl (52-xxxx series), classical music on red vinyl (49-xxxx series), country and polka on green (48-xxxx series), children's fare on yellow (also in
8241-579: The famous Nipper /" His Master's Voice " trademark . In 1931, RCA Victor's British affiliate the Gramophone Company merged with the Columbia Graphophone Company to form EMI . This gave RCA head David Sarnoff a seat on the EMI board. In September 1931, RCA Victor introduced the first 33 1 ⁄ 3 rpm records sold to the public, calling them "Program Transcription" records. These used
8364-429: The first 45 rpm single, 7 inches in diameter with a large center hole. The 45 rpm player included a changing mechanism that allowed multiple disks to be stacked, much as a conventional changer handled 78s. Also like 78s, the short playing time of a single 45 rpm side meant that long works, such as symphonies and operas, had to be released on multiple 45s instead of a single LP, but RCA Victor claimed that
8487-477: The first electrical discs during the spring of 1925. The first electrically recorded Victor Red Seal record was Chopin 's "Impromptus" and Schubert 's "Litanei" performed by pianist Alfred Cortot at Victor's studios in Camden, New Jersey . A 1926 Wanamaker's ad in The New York Times offers records "by the latest Victor process of electrical recording". It was recognized as a breakthrough; in 1930,
8610-582: The first half of the decade, RCA released platinum and multi-platinum records by artists including A$ AP Rocky , Cage the Elephant , Chris Brown , Kelly Clarkson , Miley Cyrus , D'Angelo , Dave Matthews Band , Foo Fighters , G-Eazy , Jennifer Hudson , R. Kelly , Kesha , Khalid , Alicia Keys , Kings of Leon , Miguel , Pentatonix , P!nk , Pitbull , Shakira , Sia , Britney Spears , Bryson Tiller , Justin Timberlake , T-Pain , and Tinashe . Since 2012,
8733-466: The first stereo 8-track tape music Cartridges ( Stereo 8 ) which were first used in the 1966 line of Ford automobiles and were popular throughout the late 1960s and 1970s. (The initial release comprised 175 titles from RCA Victor and RCA Camden's catalog of artists.) In late 1968, the Radio Corporation of America, wishing to modernize its image, introduced what was then a futuristic-looking new logo (the letters 'RCA' in block, modernized form), replacing
8856-403: The form of the compact disc , had gained a larger market share, and the record left the mainstream in 1991. Since the 1990s, records continue to be manufactured and sold on a smaller scale, and during the 1990s and early 2000s were commonly used by disc jockeys (DJs), especially in dance music genres. They were also listened to by a growing number of audiophiles . The phonograph record has made
8979-485: The format never became popular, and both RCA and CBS/Columbia abandoned quadraphonic recording in 1976; some of the RCA sessions were later remastered for Dolby encoding (same as Peter Scheiber 's original matrix system) and released on compact disc This included Charles Gerhardt 's acclaimed series of RCA Red Seal albums devoted to classic film scores by Erich Wolfgang Korngold , Alfred Newman , Dimitri Tiomkin , Max Steiner , Franz Waxman , and others, performed by
9102-445: The formerly standard "78s" over the next decade. The late 1950s saw the introduction of stereophonic sound on commercial discs. The phonautograph was invented by 1857 by Frenchman Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville. It could not, however, play back recorded sound, as Scott intended for people to read back the tracings, which he called phonautograms. Prior to this, tuning forks had been used in this way to create direct tracings of
9225-463: The introduction of the LP record in 1948. In popular music, the time limit of 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 minutes on a 10-inch 78 rpm record meant that singers seldom recorded long pieces. One exception is Frank Sinatra 's recording of Rodgers and Hammerstein 's " Soliloquy ", from Carousel , made on 28 May 1946. Because it ran 7m 57s, longer than both sides of a standard 78 rpm 10-inch record, it
9348-506: The label bought back $ 25 million in unsold albums and lost $ 35 million during the fiscal year 1987. As a partial corrective, a decentralized style of management which allowed RCA Records to function as a free-standing entrepreneurial business was implemented for 1988. Buziak drastically cut the RCA roster from around 40 artists to 11, and began to rebuild it with a focus on developing new artists, including artists acquired through marketing and distribution agreements with Beggars Banquet Records ,
9471-542: The label during 1956; Presley went on to become RCA Victor's biggest selling artist. Effective in 1957, EMI/HMV ended its 55-year association with RCA Victor, after EMI's acquisition of Capitol Records in 1955. Capitol then became the main distributor for EMI recordings in the Americas; Decca Records became the manufacturer and distributor for RCA Victor in the United Kingdom, using the RCA lightning bolt logo, instead of
9594-658: The label had signed Thai rapper Lisa , a member of the South Korean girl group Blackpink , for her venture into American solo endeavors. RCA Victor has produced several notable Broadway cast albums, among them the original Broadway recordings of Brigadoon , Paint Your Wagon , the Mary Martin Peter Pan , Damn Yankees , Hello, Dolly! , Oliver! , and Fiddler on the Roof . RCA has also recorded and released recordings of revival stagings of musicals. These include
9717-512: The label has released music by artists including: Kevin Abstract , A$ AP Ferg , Becky G , Bleachers , Brockhampton , Bryson Tiller , Cam , G-Eazy , Childish Gambino , Martin Garrix , H.E.R. , Normani , Kaytranada , Khalid , Kygo , Tate McRae , Mark Ronson , Sasha Sloan , Jazmine Sullivan , SZA , ZAYN . In 2015, RCA Records reinstated its 1968 space-age 'RCA' styled logo after utilizing
9840-480: The late 19th century, at first competing with earlier cylinder records. Price, ease of use and storage made the disc record dominant by the 1910s. The standard format of disc records became known to later generations as "78s" after their playback speed in revolutions per minute, although that speed only became standardized in the late 1920s. In the late 1940s new formats pressed in vinyl, the 45 rpm single and 33 rpm long playing "LP", were introduced, gradually overtaking
9963-421: The latter being the most prevalent format today. The phonograph record was the primary medium used for music reproduction throughout the 20th century. It had co-existed with the phonograph cylinder from the late 1880s and had effectively superseded it by around 1912. Records retained the largest market share even when new formats such as the compact cassette were mass-marketed. By the 1980s, digital media , in
10086-461: The left and right front and left and right rear. Both the CD-4 Quadradisc and Quad-8 tape cartridge systems were true discrete 4–4–4 quadraphonic systems. Columbia Records introduced a quadraphonic matrix system, SQ, which required a decoder, 4-channel amplifier and the four speakers. The SQ system was referred to as a 4–2–4 matrix system. The Warner Music Group labels also adopted Quadradisc, but
10209-607: The lightning bolt logo since 1987. The lightning bolt logo is still used by RCA's Nashville division. John Fleckenstein and Joe Riccitelli were appointed as co-presidents of RCA Records in January 2018. Later that year, RCA named Keith Naftaly president of A&R, and Tunji Balogun executive VP of A&R. In addition to releasing successful albums by Bryson Tiller, Alicia Keys, Fousheé' and Pentatonix in 2020, RCA had #1 records with Doja Cat 's "Say So" feat. Nicki Minaj ; Miley Cyrus' " Plastic Hearts " and Chris Brown & Young Thug's " Go Crazy ". Brockhampton's single "Sugar"
10332-550: The mains supply was 60 Hz, the actual speed was 78.26 rpm: that of a 60 Hz stroboscope illuminating 92-bar calibration markings. Where it was 50 Hz, it was 77.92 rpm: that of a 50 Hz stroboscope illuminating 77-bar calibration markings. At least one attempt to lengthen playing time was made in the early 1920s. World Records produced records that played at a constant linear velocity , controlled by Noel Pemberton Billing 's patented add-on speed governor. Early recordings were made entirely acoustically,
10455-452: The musical productions staged at Lincoln Center , such as the 1966 revivals of Show Boat and Annie Get Your Gun , the 1987 revival of Anything Goes and the 1998 Broadway revivals of Cabaret and The Sound of Music . Call Me Madam was recorded by RCA Victor with all of its original cast except for its star Ethel Merman , who, due to contractual obligations, could not be released from her American Decca Records contract. She
10578-470: The name Vik on January 1, 1956, reprinting the records that were in print on the label accordingly. Among the acts on Vik were Marty Gold , Gisele MacKenzie (whose biggest hit, "Hard to Get" was issued on "X"), Pat Suzuki , Lee Denson and, more successfully, the R&;B duo Mickey & Sylvia . Journalist and executive Bob Rolontz , who had been responsible for another RCA subsidiary, Groove Records , and
10701-528: The new Masterworks Broadway Records . All of these recordings are now on Masterworks Broadway Records , which has remastered and reissued many of these albums. Victor's early recording studios were established in Philadelphia in 1901 and then at its headquarters in Camden, New Jersey and also in New York. In 1917, Victor acquired the abandoned Trinity Church located at 114 North 5th Street in Camden and used it as
10824-436: The new high-speed changer rendered side breaks so brief as to be inconsequential. Early 45 rpm records were made from either vinyl or polystyrene . They had a playing time of eight minutes. At first the two systems were marketed in competition, in what was called " The War of the Speeds ". The older 78 rpm format continued to be mass-produced alongside the newer formats using new materials in decreasing numbers until
10947-536: The number of audio channels ( mono , stereo , quad , etc.). The phrase broken record refers to a malfunction when the needle skips/jumps back to the previous groove and plays the same section over and over again indefinitely. The various names have included phonograph record (American English), gramophone record (British English), record, vinyl, LP (originally a trademark of Columbia Records ), black disc, album, and more informally platter, wax, or liquorice pizza. Manufacture of disc records began in
11070-548: The original lightning bolt logo, and the virtual retirement of both the Victor and Nipper/His Master's Voice trademarks. The Radio Corporation of America officially changed its name to the RCA Corporation; the RCA Victor Division was now known as RCA Records. The 'Victor' trademark was restricted to the labels and album covers of RCA's regular popular record releases. RCA Victor record labels were changed to bright orange or yellow (becoming tan briefly late in 1975–76), replacing
11193-468: The other RCA divisions, which GE either liquidated, sold, or closed. BMG also revived the "RCA Victor" label for Red Seal, Broadway and soundtrack releases and other musical genres outside of rock, pop and country music. In 1986, Bob Buziak, formerly an artist manager, was appointed president of the label. During the mid-1980s, RCA Records operated at a deficit, due in part to "overpriced deals" with pop stars including Kenny Rogers and Diana Ross . In 1986,
11316-432: The prefix "LSP". RCA utilized these catalog prefixes until 1973, when they were changed to "ARL1" and "APL1" for stereo classical and stereo non-classical single LPs, respectively. During the 1950s, RCA Victor had three subsidiary or specialty labels: Groove , Vik and "X". The edition of Billboard magazine dated April 11, 1953, announced a new RCA Victor subsidiary label, its first to use independent distribution and
11439-484: The same name. Electrical recording and reproduction have combined to retain vitality and color in recitals by proxy. The Orthophonic Victrola had an interior folded exponential horn, a sophisticated design informed by impedance-matching and transmission-line theory, and designed to provide a relatively flat frequency response. Victor's first public demonstration of the Orthophonic Victrola on 6 October 1925, at
11562-523: The same vein of Tin Pan Alley revivals, R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders issued a number of 78-rpm singles on their Blue Goose record label. The most familiar of these releases is probably R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders' Party Record (1980, issued as a "Red Goose" record on a 12-inch single), with the double-entendre " My Girl's Pussy " on the "A" side and the X-rated "Christopher Columbus" on
11685-406: The second session, on 30 April, the two 12-inch recordings were longer: "Embraceable You" was 4m 05s; "Serenade to a Shylock", 4m 32s. Another way to overcome the time limitation was to issue a selection extending to both sides of a single record. Vaudeville stars Gallagher and Shean recorded "Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean", written by themselves or, allegedly, by Bryan Foy, as two sides of
11808-471: The sound was collected by a horn and piped to a diaphragm , which vibrated the cutting stylus. Sensitivity and frequency range were poor, and frequency response was irregular, giving acoustic recordings an instantly recognizable tonal quality. A singer almost had to put their face in the recording horn. A way of reducing resonance was to wrap the recording horn with tape. Even drums, if planned and placed properly, could be effectively recorded and heard on even
11931-681: The summer of 1958 in the U.S., and in a few countries, such as the Philippines and India (both countries issued recordings by the Beatles on 78s), into the late 1960s. For example, Columbia Records ' last reissue of Frank Sinatra songs on 78 rpm records was an album called Young at Heart , issued in November 1954. Columbia and RCA Victor each pursued their R&D secretly. The commercial rivalry between RCA Victor and Columbia Records led to RCA Victor's introduction of what it had intended to be
12054-592: The traditional black label color for popular releases) in countries where RCA held the rights to the Nipper/His Master's Voice trademark. Nipper was once again widely used in RCA newspaper and magazine advertisements and sales literature, as well as store displays and promotional items such as T-shirts caps, posters, coin banks, keychains, watches, coffee mugs and stuffed toys. The trademark was also restored to RCA stationery, shipping cartons and company vehicles. In 1983, Arista Records owner Bertelsmann sold 50% of Arista to RCA. In 1985, Bertelsmann and RCA Records formed
12177-424: The traditional black label color in use since 1901. The Nipper/His Master's Voice trademark was seen only on the album covers of RCA Red Seal Records . RCA Records introduced a thin, pliable, lightweight vinyl LP record known as Dynaflex in late 1969. This very thin, flexible record claimed to overcome warping and other problems encountered with conventional thicker LP records and like Dynagroove, it soon developed
12300-426: The vibrations of sound-producing objects, as by English physicist Thomas Young in 1807. In 1877, Thomas Edison invented the first phonograph , which etched sound recordings onto phonograph cylinders . Unlike the phonautograph, Edison's phonograph could both record and reproduce sound, via two separate needles, one for each function. The first commercially sold disc records were created by Emile Berliner in
12423-620: The waltz from Tchaikovsky 's opera Eugene Onegin . There were additional stereo tests in December, again in the Manhattan Center, this time with Pierre Monteux conducting members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In February 1954, RCA Victor made its first commercial stereophonic recordings, taping the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Charles Münch , in a performance of The Damnation of Faust by Hector Berlioz. This began
12546-492: Was Gaîté Parisienne by Jacques Offenbach , performed by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra , which had been recorded in Boston 's Symphony Hall on June 20, 1947; the record was given the catalogue number LM-1001. Non-classical LP record albums were issued with the prefix "LPM". When RCA Victor began issuing classical LPs in stereophonic sound in 1958, the prefix "LSC" was used. Non-classical stereo LPs were issued with
12669-435: Was 2:09 and four sides were 2:52–2:59. In January 1938, Milt Gabler started recording for Commodore Records , and to allow for longer continuous performances, he recorded some 12-inch discs. Eddie Condon explained: "Gabler realized that a jam session needs room for development." The first two 12-inch recordings did not take advantage of their capability: "Carnegie Drag" was 3m 15s; "Carnegie Jump", 2m 41s. But at
12792-696: Was appointed chairman of the BMG Label Group, and Davis was named chief creative officer of Sony BMG worldwide. In October, Sony acquired BMG's 50% ownership and the BMG Label Group was merged with the Jive Label Group to establish the RCA/Jive Label Group . It included RCA, Jive, J, Arista, Polo Grounds, LaFace Records , Volcano Entertainment , Hitz Committee , Battery Records , and the Verity Gospel Music Group . The decade marked
12915-467: Was certified platinum, and singles by Flo Milli and Latto (formerly known as "Mulatto") were certified gold. Both Doja Cat and Kaytranada received multiple Grammy nominations, including Best New Artist, H.E.R. received her 13th Grammy nomination, and the Strokes album The New Abnormal won for Best Rock Album. Koffee signed with RCA just after she became the first woman and the youngest person to win
13038-512: Was distributed by RCA, which had released the Broadway cast album. RCA Victor also released the original American cast album of Hair . Similarly, RCA Victor also made several studio cast recording albums, including a Lerner and Loewe series with Jan Peerce , Jane Powell , and Robert Merrill , as well as a 1963 album of excerpts from George Gershwin 's Porgy and Bess , with its 1952 revival leads, Leontyne Price and William Warfield , but
13161-624: Was gaining in popularity, too, and Columbia issued its first 45s in February 1951. By 1954, 200 million 45s had been sold. Eventually the 12-inch (300 mm) 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 rpm LP prevailed as the dominant format for musical albums, and 10-inch LPs were no longer issued. The last Columbia Records reissue of any Frank Sinatra songs on a 10-inch LP record was an album called Hall of Fame , CL 2600, issued on 26 October 1956, containing six songs, one each by Tony Bennett , Rosemary Clooney , Johnnie Ray , Frank Sinatra , Doris Day , and Frankie Laine . The 45 rpm discs also came in
13284-531: Was issued on 7 December 1959. The Seeburg Corporation introduced the Seeburg Background Music System in 1959, using a 16 + 2 ⁄ 3 rpm 9-inch record with 2-inch center hole. Each record held 40 minutes of music per side, recorded at 420 grooves per inch. From the mid-1950s through the 1960s, in the U.S. the common home record player or "stereo" (after the introduction of stereo recording) would typically have had these features:
13407-600: Was later increased to 30 inches per second). These recordings were initially issued in 1955 on special stereophonic reel-to-reel tapes and then, beginning in 1958, on vinyl LPs with the "Living Stereo" logo. RCA has continued to reissue many of these "Living Stereo" recordings on CD. Another 1953 project for RCA was converting the acoustically superior building Webster Hall into its main East Coast recording studio. RCA Victor operated this studio venue from 1953 to 1968. In September 1954, RCA Victor introduced "Gruve-Gard" where
13530-737: Was named chief operating officer. Jazmine Sullivan's Heaux Tales hit #1 on the Billboard R&;B albums chart. Tate McRae's " You Broke Me First " (stylized as "you broke me first") was quadruple platinum in Ireland, double platinum in Canada, Mexico and New Zealand, and platinum in the US, UK, Australia, Finland, France, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. She was #1 on the Billboard emerging artist chart. In April 2024, Variety announced that
13653-555: Was named president and COO. On the seventh of October of that year, the Jive, Arista and J imprints were altogether permanently merged into RCA. As a result, the RCA Music Group was then disbanded and RCA was reinstated as a standalone label under the Sony Music umbrella. Following the shutdown of the three labels, a majority of various artists from the rosters of Jive, Arista and/or J were shifted to release future material under RCA. During
13776-416: Was nameless when it was first revealed. For the lack of any better designation, Billboard chose to refer to the new, unnamed label in the story as Label "X"; the new label began to hire staffers and decide on a direction, and the name stuck until 1955. RCA Victor officially announced the formation of label "X" on April 20, 1953. Groove was an R&B specialty label founded in 1954 and folded into Vik in 1957;
13899-534: Was not until the LP era that an entire album of material could be included on a single record. In 1968, when the hit movie Thoroughly Modern Millie was inspiring revivals of Jazz Age music, Reprise planned to release a series of 78-rpm singles from their artists on their label at the time, called the Reprise Speed Series. Only one disc actually saw release, Randy Newman 's "I Think It's Going to Rain Today",
14022-517: Was redesigned, and it became known as the 'buff' label). Another discount label, Sunrise, was produced (although it is not known for whom it was produced, as Sunrise records are exceptionally rare today). The same musical couplings were issued on all three labels and the Bluebird label is still in existence today, nine decades after Electradisk and Sunrise were discontinued. During this time, RCA Victor also produced electrical transcriptions of music under
14145-502: Was released on Columbia 's Masterwork label (the classical division) as two sides of a 12-inch record. In the 78 era, classical-music and spoken-word items generally were released on the longer 12-inch 78s, about 4–5 minutes per side. For example, on 10 June 1924, four months after the 12 February premier of Rhapsody in Blue , George Gershwin recorded an abridged version of the seventeen-minute work with Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra. It
14268-482: Was released on two sides of Victor 55225 and ran for 8m 59s. "Record albums" were originally booklets containing collections of multiple disc records of related material, the name being related to photograph albums or scrap albums. German record company Odeon pioneered the album in 1909 when it released the Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky on four double-sided discs in a specially designed package. It
14391-456: Was replaced by Joe Galante , who had been the president of RCA Records Nashville division. The roster was cut once again and the A&;R department was restructured. Along with the launch of BNA Records and the expansion of the urban music division, these initiatives would prove to be positive, but RCA was unsuccessful under Galante, ranking 10th in market share in 1995. Galante returned to head
14514-405: Was replaced on the RCA Victor album by Dinah Shore . RCA Victor was also responsible for the film soundtrack albums of Damn Yankees , South Pacific , Bye Bye Birdie , Half a Sixpence , and The Sound of Music . The album made from the 1965 hit Julie Andrews film was (and is) one of the best selling soundtracks of all time. The film soundtrack of Oliver! , made by Colgems Records ,
14637-456: Was the leading record manufacturer for independent labels . RCA's Midwestern plant in Indianapolis , at 501 North LaSalle Street (the site is now part of a Demolition and Blight Reduction Project). The Custom Division notably pressed many record compilations for The Reader's Digest Association . RCA sold its interest in EMI in 1938, but EMI continued to distribute RCA Victor recordings in
14760-410: Was the short-lived Timely Tunes label in 1931, sold exclusively by Montgomery Ward . Bluebird Records was created in 1932 as a sub-label of Victor. It was originally an 8-inch record with a dark blue label, alongside the 8-inch Electradisk label (sold by F.W. Woolworth ). Neither label was a success. In 1933, RCA Victor reintroduced Bluebird and Electradisk as a standard 10-inch label (Bluebird's label
14883-436: Was then put in charge of Vik, later said: "The Vik label was probably the worst collection of talent in the world... There was no way we could pull Vik out of that hole. And after about a year, the RCA people decided to discontinue Vik." The Vik label was closed on November 1, 1958. While some artists had their contracts transferred to the parent company, others, like Brook Benton and Teddy Randazzo , left to respectively join
15006-539: Was to phase out the 45 rpm disc, but sales of the new records were poor and by early 1962 the campaign had failed. In 1963, RCA Victor introduced Dynagroove which added computer technology to the disc cutting process, ostensibly to improve sound reproduction. Whether or not the complex process was actually an improvement is still debated among audiophiles. RCA quietly phased out the Dynagroove process by 1970. In September 1965, RCA and Lear Jet Corp. teamed up to release
15129-512: Was worked out on paper in advance of being built in the laboratory ... The new machine has a range of from 100 to 5,000 [cycles per second], or five and a half octaves ... The 'phonograph tone' is eliminated by the new recording and reproducing process. Sales of records plummeted precipitously during the early years of the Great Depression of the 1930s, and the entire record industry in America nearly foundered. In 1932, RCA Victor introduced
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