page_title: Production of phonograph records
section_title: Labels
hierarchical_section_title: Production of phonograph records / Labels
caption_attribution_description: English: Victor Talking Machine Company logo
context_page_description: For the first several decades of disc record manufacturing, sound was recorded directly on to the master disc at the recording studio. From about 1950 on it became usual to have the performance first recorded on audio tape, which could then be processed and/or edited, and then dubbed on to the master disc.
  A record cutter would engrave the grooves into the master disc. Early versions of these master discs were soft wax, and later a harder lacquer was used.
  The mastering process was originally something of an art as the operator had to manually allow for the changes in sound which affected how wide the space for the groove needed to be on each rotation. Sometimes the engineer would sign his work, or leave humorous or cryptic comments in the lead-out groove area, where it was normal to scratch or stamp identifying codes to distinguish each master.
context_section_description: Record companies organised their products into labels. These could either be subsidiary companies, or they could simply be just a brand name. For example, EMI published records under the His Master's Voice (HMV) label which was their classical recording brand, Harvest for their progressive rock brand, home to Pink Floyd. They also had Music for Pleasure and Classics for Pleasure as their economy labels. EMI also used the Parlophone brand in the UK for Beatles records in the early 1960s.
  In the 1970s successful musicians sought greater control, and one way they achieved this was with their own labels, though normally they were still operated by the large music corporations. Two of the most famous early examples of this were the Beatles' Apple Records and Led Zeppelin's Swan Song Records
  In the late 1970s the anarchic punk rock movement gave rise to the independent record labels. These were not owned or even distributed by the major corporations. In the UK, examples were Stiff Records, who published Ian Dury and the Blockheads, and 2 Tone Records, a label for the Specials. These allowed smaller bands to step onto the ladder without having to conform to the rigid rules of the large corporations.
caption: Victor (later RCA Victor) logo featuring Nipper the dog
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