Editing RCA (section)

==Phonographs and records==
The rapid rise of radio broadcasting during the early 1920s, which provided unlimited free entertainment in the home, had a detrimental effect on the American phonograph record industry. The [[Victor Talking Machine Company]] in [[Camden, New Jersey]], was then the world's largest manufacturer of [[phonograph record|records]] and [[phonograph]]s, including its popular showcase "Victrola" line. In January 1929, RCA purchased the Victor Talking Machine Company; this acquisition became known as the  '''RCA Victor''' Division of the Radio Corporation of America, and included ownership of Victor's Japanese subsidiary, the [[Victor Company of Japan]] (JVC), formed in 1927 and controlling interest in [[The Gramophone Company|The Gramophone Company Ltd.]] (later [[EMI Records]]) in England.

RCA's acquisition of the Victor company included the rights to the iconic [[Nipper]]/"[[His Master's Voice]]" trademark across North America.<ref>The Nipper trademark was also used in the United Kingdom by [[The Gramophone Company]].</ref> RCA Victor popularized combined radio receiver-phonographs, and also created [[RCA Photophone]], a movie [[sound-on-film]] system that competed with [[William Fox (producer)|William Fox]]'s sound-on-film [[Movietone sound system|Movietone]] and [[Warner Bros.]]' [[sound-on-disc]] [[Vitaphone]]. Although early announcements of the merger between RCA and Victor stressed that the two firms were linking on equal terms to form a joint new company, RCA initially had little interest in the phonograph record business. RCA's management was interested essentially in Victor's superior sales capabilities through the record company's large network of authorized distributors and dealers, as well as the extensive, efficient manufacturing facilities in [[Camden, New Jersey]]. Immediately following the purchase of Victor, RCA began planning the manufacture of radio sets and components on Victor's Camden assembly lines, while gradually decreasing the production of Victrolas and records.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://historiccamdencounty.com/ccnews138.shtml|title=A Photo History of RCA's Golden Years in Camden|first=Hoag|last=Levins|date=March 2009|publisher=historiccamdencounty.com}}</ref>

Following the [[Stock market crash of 1929]] and subsequent [[Great Depression]], the entire phonograph record industry in America nearly foundered. During the nadir of the record business in the early 1930s, the manufacture of phonographs and records had all but ceased; extant older phonographs were now obsolete and most had been relegated to the attic or basement. RCA Victor began selling the first all-electric Victrola in 1930 and in 1931, the company attempted to revitalize record sales with the introduction of 33{{frac|1|3}} [[revolutions per minute|revolutions-per-minute]] (rpm) long play records, which were a commercial failure during the Great Depression, partly because the Victrolas with two speed turntables required to play them were exorbitantly expensive, and also because the audio performance of the new records was generally poor; the new format used the same groove size as existing 78&nbsp;rpm records,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Edward|first1=David|title=RCA Program Transcription Album Discography (1931–33)|url=https://bsnpubs.com/rca/rca/rca33.html|website=bsnpubs.com|publisher=Both Sides Now Publications|access-date=August 19, 2015|display-authors=etal}}</ref> and it would require the smaller-radius stylus of the later microgroove systems to achieve acceptable slower-speed performance. Additionally, the new long-play records were pressed in a pliable, vinyl-based material called "Victrolac" which wore out rapidly under the heavy tonearms then in use.<ref>A similar attempt in the late 1920s by [[Edison Records]] to market a commercial long play record format had also failed. The Edison approach used a microgroove lateral cut disc with up to 20 minutes playing time per side.</ref>

In 1934, following the debacle of its long-play record, RCA Victor introduced the Duo Jr., an inexpensive, small, basic electric turntable designed to be plugged into radio sets. The Duo Jr. was sold at cost, but was practically given away with the purchase of a certain number of Victor records. The Duo Jr.'s rock-bottom price and America's slowly improving economy helped to overcome the national apathy to phonographs, and record sales gradually began to recover.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ZmjkJwxyWcC&pg=PA98|title=Sound Recording: The Life Story of a Technology|first=David|last=Morton|page=98|date=2004|publisher=JHU Press |isbn=9780801883989}}</ref> Around 1935, RCA began marketing the modernistic RCA Victor M Special, a polished aluminum portable record player designed by [[John Vassos]] that has become an icon of 1930s American industrial design.<ref>Dominic Muren, [https://www.idfuel.com/index.php?blog=2&p=293&more=1&c=1 "Monday Masterpieces: Streamline+Vinyl=Awesome"], IDFuel: Industrial Design Weblog, 2004. Retrieved July 22, 2012</ref> In 1949, RCA Victor released the first 45&nbsp;rpm "single" records, as a response to [[Columbia Records]] successful introduction of its microgroove 33{{frac|1|3}}&nbsp;rpm "[[LP record|LP]]" format in 1948. As RCA Victor adopted Columbia's 33{{frac|1|3}}&nbsp;rpm LP records in 1950,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.musicinthemail.com/audiohistoryLP.html |title=Development of the LP record in 1948|first=Edward |last=Wallerstein|publisher=musicinthemail.com |access-date=June 1, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BUUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA11|title=RCA To Press All Speeds: Diskery Goes 33 in March To Service Entire Market; 45 Promotion in High Gear|magazine=Billboard|date=January 7, 1950|access-date=June 1, 2017}}</ref> Columbia then adopted RCA Victor's 45&nbsp;rpm records.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cubby.net/worldofcubby/RCR/record_history.html |title=Record Collector's Resource: A History of Records |publisher=cubby.net |access-date=June 1, 2017}}</ref>