In all due respect, while Victor and Columbia readily embraced electric
recording, the smaller labels did resist, mainly as they didn't have the
capital resources to make the switch.
Brunswick had it's "light ray" process which, though a mystery, seems to
have been used by others as well as a way to dodge the equipment upgrade
and hefty licensing fees.
Gennett's electrical system, such as it was, was terrible sounding at
first. You would think that Marsh Labs, with its earlier, inferior
electrical system, would have prospered as a
result. But it didn't. Homer Rodeheaver closed his own acoustic studio in
Chicago in the fall of 1925 rather than to upgrade. I think BD&M went that
route also.

There was a little economic slump in 1925-26 that also wreaked havoc among
the smaller labels, so it wasn't just that. But the changeover to electric
was a major contributing factor
to the disappearance of certain labels in those years.

Dave Lewis
Lebanon, OH

On Sun, Oct 7, 2012 at 8:13 PM, Dennis Rooney <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> Dear Tom,
>
> No. Western Electric demonstrated their system to both Victor and Columbia.
> Each signed and began releasing electrical recordings by spring 1925.
>
> DDR
>
>