Ajax (6)

U.S. record label (1923-1925). Produced by the The Compo Company Ltd. of Montreal, Canada for U.S. distribution. Herbert S. Berliner formed the Ajax Record Company to market a new line of race records. The label was formally launched in late 1923, using masters recorded in Compo's New York studio (31000 series) or its Montreal studio (1400-1600 series). Ajax occasionally licensed masters from The New York Recording Laboratories (Paramount) and the Regal Record Company, Inc. (Banner/Regal (3)), and pressed discs at its Lachine, Quebec plant. A fundamental misunderstanding of the American race-record market caused a resounding lack of interest on the part of record buyers, and poor management decisions caused the Ajax label to fold in August, 1925. Some Ajax masters were later reissued (usually pseudonymously) in Perfect (3)'s short-lived race series.