RCA Records (Creator)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rca_records.jpg

A collage of RCA's various logos, taken from their Facebook page.

Its origins go back to 1901, when its precursor, the Victor Talking Machine Company, went into business. Victor became a leading manufacturer of both phonographs and the records that played on them; the record label's roster included such prominent names as Enrico Caruso and Paul Whiteman. In 1929, Victor was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America, and the main pop label housed names such as Rudy Vallee and the first records of Bing Crosby as a solo singer, while Bluebird was launched as a budget label in 1932. In 1946, the Victor label was renamed RCA Victor. In 1949, RCA introduced the 7-inch 45 rpm single (which eventually supplanted the 10-inch 78 rpm record) to compete with the 10-inch and 12-inch album, which had been introduced by its rival Columbia Records the previous year, also introducing colored vinyl coded by genre. They also pressed albums of 45 rpm records, as had been done for 78 rpm discs, but abandoned 45 rpm albums when it became clear that record buyers overwhelmingly preferred LP albums and followed suit by producing their own LPs. In The '50s, RCA helped usher in the Rock & Roll era by signing Elvis Presley. RCA's other major artists over the years include Jefferson Airplane, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Kelly Clarkson, and Foo Fighters, among many others. In spite of their early reluctance to back the LP, RCA was quick to jump on the Compact Disc bandwagon in the '80s. The RCA label is currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, along with its longtime competitor Columbia.