Operaphone

U.S. record label (1915-21). This label was originally produced by the Operaphone Manufacturing Corporation. Despite the name, the label featured primarily popular fare. 8" discs were announced August 15, 1916, but in early 1918 the company abandoned this format in favor of a standard 10" disc. These were steel-needle vertical cut discs transcribed from Pathé masters and were numbered in a 5000 catalog series. The final series of records also drew from Pathé masters, but were transcribed in universal-cut form. Introduced in July, 1919 these Operaphone discs cited the Universal Cut patent (#639,452). As with most universal-cut discs of the era, these were of mediocre quality and prone to wear. The last new Operaphone releases were advertised in January, 1921 and coincided with Pathé's entry into the lateral cut market.