Berliner Gramophone
Encyclopedia
Berliner Gramophone was an early record label
, the first company to produce disc "gramophone record
s" (as opposed to the earlier phonograph cylinder
records).
started marketing his disc records in 1889
. These records were five inches in diameter, and offered only in Europe. At first, the use of his disc records was leased to various toy companies, which made toy phonographs or gramophones
to play them on. The audio fidelity
of these earliest discs was well below that of contemporary phonograph cylinder records.
In 1892 he incorporated the United States Gramophone Company in Washington D.C.. This company offered the first disc records (now seven inches in diameter and no longer intended as a toy) in November 1894 on the Berliner Gramophone label. After various mergers, divisions, lawsuits, and injunctions, this company was to give rise to the Victor Talking Machine Company
in the United States in late 1900. In 1929, Victor was purchased by RCA
.
In 1897 Berliner opened up his United Kingdom
branch in London
. This was called The Gramophone Company
, then from 1900 The Gramophone & Typewriter Ltd for a few years, and much later (in 1931), becoming part of EMI
.
In 1898 Berliner started a German branch of the Gramophone Company to produce his disc records: Deutsche Grammophon
.
Until 1901 Berliner records had no labels; instead the necessary information was etched or impressed into the master. Most pre-1901 records bear the exact date of recording. These records were almost always single-sided, although a few double-sided pressings exist from 1900; an example is on display in the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh
, Scotland
.
Three of the four major global record companies have units which can trace their ancestry to Berliner Gramophone, Universal Music Group
, Sony Music Entertainment
and EMI
.
[in the Aqueduct Street building of Northern Electric] and first marketed records and gramophones the following year. In 1904, the company received its charter as the Berliner Gram-o-phone Company of Canada. Early recordings were imported from masters recorded in the United States until a recording studio
in Montreal was established in 1906. The Berliner name as a record label lasted longest in Canada, until 1924
when it was bought out by USA's Victor, becoming RCA Victor in 1929. Berliner Gram-o-phone's facilities in Montreal, a complex of buildings at 1001 rue Lenoir and 1050 rue LaCasse in the St-Henri district, became home to RCA Victor Canada over the next several decades, developing and producing such high-tech products as microwave radio relay systems, communication satellites, television broadcast equipment, etc. Since the dissolution of RCA in 1986, the Lenoir building has been turned into a multi-use office/commercial building, but the Lacasse facility is now The Emile Berliner Museum, documenting the history of the man, his company and the building complex. The historic Studio Victor located there is still an active recording studio.
Emile Berliner's son Herbert founded the Compo Company
and left Berliner Gram-O-Phone. Herbert's younger brother, Edgar, continued as chief executive of Berliner Gram-o-phone (later renamed Victor Talking Machine Company
of Canada). Ironically, Emile Berliner
died in 1929, the same year RCA bought out Victor, and Edgar Berliner resigned the following year.
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, the first company to produce disc "gramophone record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
s" (as opposed to the earlier phonograph cylinder
Phonograph cylinder
Phonograph cylinders were the earliest commercial medium for recording and reproducing sound. Commonly known simply as "records" in their era of greatest popularity , these cylinder shaped objects had an audio recording engraved on the outside surface which could be reproduced when the cylinder was...
records).
History
Emile BerlinerEmile Berliner
Emile Berliner or Emil Berliner was a German-born American inventor. He is best known for developing the disc record gramophone...
started marketing his disc records in 1889
1889 in music
-Events:*November 20 - Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 1 is premiered in Budapest* Emile Berliner markets first commercial gramophone records*Joseph Kekuku is credited with inventing the Hawaiian steel guitar-Published popular music:...
. These records were five inches in diameter, and offered only in Europe. At first, the use of his disc records was leased to various toy companies, which made toy phonographs or gramophones
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
to play them on. The audio fidelity
High fidelity
High fidelity—or hi-fi—reproduction is a term used by home stereo listeners and home audio enthusiasts to refer to high-quality reproduction of sound or images, to distinguish it from the poorer quality sound produced by inexpensive audio equipment...
of these earliest discs was well below that of contemporary phonograph cylinder records.
In 1892 he incorporated the United States Gramophone Company in Washington D.C.. This company offered the first disc records (now seven inches in diameter and no longer intended as a toy) in November 1894 on the Berliner Gramophone label. After various mergers, divisions, lawsuits, and injunctions, this company was to give rise to the Victor Talking Machine Company
Victor Talking Machine Company
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
in the United States in late 1900. In 1929, Victor was purchased by RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
.
In 1897 Berliner opened up his United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
branch in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. This was called The Gramophone Company
Gramophone Company
The Gramophone Company, based in the United Kingdom, was one of the early recording companies, and was the parent organization for the famous "His Master's Voice" label...
, then from 1900 The Gramophone & Typewriter Ltd for a few years, and much later (in 1931), becoming part of EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
.
In 1898 Berliner started a German branch of the Gramophone Company to produce his disc records: Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
.
Until 1901 Berliner records had no labels; instead the necessary information was etched or impressed into the master. Most pre-1901 records bear the exact date of recording. These records were almost always single-sided, although a few double-sided pressings exist from 1900; an example is on display in the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Three of the four major global record companies have units which can trace their ancestry to Berliner Gramophone, Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
, Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
and EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
.
Berliner Gram-o-phone Company of Canada
E. Berliner Gramophone of Canada was established in 1899 in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
[in the Aqueduct Street building of Northern Electric] and first marketed records and gramophones the following year. In 1904, the company received its charter as the Berliner Gram-o-phone Company of Canada. Early recordings were imported from masters recorded in the United States until a recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
in Montreal was established in 1906. The Berliner name as a record label lasted longest in Canada, until 1924
1924 in music
-Events:*February 18 – First recordings by Bix Beiderbecke*February 24 – An Experiment In Modern Music concert at Aeolian Hall, New York – première of Rhapsody in Blue.*June – Alexander von Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony is premiered in Prague....
when it was bought out by USA's Victor, becoming RCA Victor in 1929. Berliner Gram-o-phone's facilities in Montreal, a complex of buildings at 1001 rue Lenoir and 1050 rue LaCasse in the St-Henri district, became home to RCA Victor Canada over the next several decades, developing and producing such high-tech products as microwave radio relay systems, communication satellites, television broadcast equipment, etc. Since the dissolution of RCA in 1986, the Lenoir building has been turned into a multi-use office/commercial building, but the Lacasse facility is now The Emile Berliner Museum, documenting the history of the man, his company and the building complex. The historic Studio Victor located there is still an active recording studio.
Emile Berliner's son Herbert founded the Compo Company
Compo Company
Compo Company Ltd. was Canada's first independent record company.The Compo Company was founded in 1918 in Lachine, Quebec by Herbert Berliner, an executive of Berliner Gramophone of Canada and the oldest son of disc record inventor Emile Berliner....
and left Berliner Gram-O-Phone. Herbert's younger brother, Edgar, continued as chief executive of Berliner Gram-o-phone (later renamed Victor Talking Machine Company
Victor Talking Machine Company
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
of Canada). Ironically, Emile Berliner
Emile Berliner
Emile Berliner or Emil Berliner was a German-born American inventor. He is best known for developing the disc record gramophone...
died in 1929, the same year RCA bought out Victor, and Edgar Berliner resigned the following year.
Berliner Gramophone recording artists
Some of the notable artists who recorded for Berliner include:- Auguste AraminiAuguste AraminiAuguste Aramini was a French born singer.Aramini was born in Agen, France. He is thought to have emigrated to Canada as a singer in the theatre performance company of René Harmant, who arrived in Canada in 1897. While in Montreal he made several recordings for the Berliner label, including Faut...
- Arthur Collins
- Charles D'Almaine
- Diamond Quartette
- George W. JohnsonGeorge W. JohnsonGeorge Washington Johnson was a singer and pioneer sound recording artist, the first African American recording star of the phonograph.-Early life:...
- Oskar I. Kamionskiy
- Graus Mountain Choir
- Billy MurrayBilly Murray (singer)William Thomas "Billy" Murray was one of the most popular singers in the United States in the early decades of the 20th century...
- Joseph Saucier
- Len SpencerLen SpencerLeonard Garfield Spencer was an early American recording artist. He recorded numerous popular songs in the pre-1920s, the most popular of which was "Arkansaw Traveler" . The song is an early novelty record and consists of a back-and-forth banter with an Arkansas local who is playing a fiddle...
- SousaJohn Philip SousaJohn Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J....
's Band - U.S. Marine Band
- Vess L. Ossman
- George Club