International Zonophone Company

Record company established by Fred Prescott in Berlin, Germany, on behalf of Frank Seaman of Universal Talking Machine Manufacturing Company. In 1902 a Zonophone recording field trip arrived in Argentina, pressing the first records marketed to Argentina with the label Royal Record (4) This was commercially unsuccessful however, and Zonophone withdrew. Subsequent attempts by German companies to break into Argentina would be carried out by Carl Lindström A.-G. and the American Zonophone branch On June 6th 1903 The Gramophone And Typewriter Ltd. acquired the assets of Universal Talking Machine Manufacturing Company and the International Zonophone Company, selling the former to Victor Talking Machine Co.. International Zonophone would become the continental European branch of the British company, establishing many variant labels and franchises, pressing single-sided 5½", 7", 10" and 12" discs. In 1910, the now named The Gramophone Co. Ltd. creates The British Zonophone Co. Ltd. to administer British Zonophone records. It remained in activity until the onset of WWI, when the company dissappeared and wasn't re-established. From there on Zonophone discs were published internationally by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. subsidiares. Variants of Zonophone Record: Disco Zonofono - Spanish & Italian Disque Zonofono - Egyptian Disque Zon-O-Phone - French #1 Disque Zonophone - French #2 Disco Zon-O-Phone - Brazilian Zon-o-phone Schallplatte - German