Prom Records has a distinct place in the history of music recording, particularly for its approach to producing cover versions of popular songs. Established in Newark, New Jersey, Prom was not just a record label but also a company under the larger umbrella of the Synthetic Plastics Company (SPC). SPC,…
Tag: history

Orthophonic Recording
Evolution of Recorded Music: The Rise of Orthophonic Recording The evolution of recorded music has been, to this point, a series of incremental advances: cylinders, to 7 inch disks, to mass production. The next major point in this evolution, however, is pivotal and more than just slightly incremental: the transition…

78 RPM Growth: Rise of the Victor Talking Machine Company
The Rise and Shine of the Victor Talking Machine Company This is the fourth in Blind Skeleton’s “History of Recorded Music” series. Last week’s episode was all about Berliner and his innovation of the circular disc format to record and play music, which we’re familiar with today as a vinyl…

The Invention of the Phonograph
Record Players, as they are called today, have a history that dates back to the 19th century. Phonographs, as they were known then, are popularly regarded as playing flat disc records that spun at a rate of 78rpm. Truthfully, though, the original phonographs were even more different than that. The…