Phoenix (12)

Low-priced British budget label, produced from 1913 to ca. 1915. Produced by Phoenix Record Co., the label was the Columbia Graphophone Company's response to inexpensive German-produced import labels like Coliseum Record and Scala-Record (2) that flooded the British market at the time. Phoenix records were priced at 1/1d, whereas Columbia's regular releases sold for 2/6d. Releases feature matrix or rather control numbers with an X-prefix. Some records, however, also display a second matrix number (visible in relief under the label) because they were originally made by Columbia in the United States. Phoenix releases with catalog numbers above 0300 and control numbers with a B-prefix are paste-over releases of Columbia's mid-level budget label, Regal.