Columbia Records

=== Columbia Phonograph Company ownership (1925–1931) ===
[[File:Col4951A.jpg|right|thumb|The British label of an electrically recorded Columbia disc by [[Paul Whiteman]]]]
In late 1922, Columbia entered receivership.<ref name="New Grove">{{cite book|last1=Rye|first1=Howard |last2=Kernfeld |first2=Barry|editor1-last=Kernfeld|editor1-first=Barry|title=The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz|date=2002|publisher=Grove's Dictionaries Inc.|location=New York|isbn=1-56159-284-6|page=172|volume=1|edition=2nd}}</ref>

The company was bought by its UK subsidiary, the [[Columbia Graphophone Company]], in 1925 and the label, record numbering system, and recording process changed. On February 25, 1925, Columbia began recording with the electric recording process licensed from [[Western Electric]].<ref name=Brooks_Late_20s >{{citation |title=Columbia Corporate History: Electrical Recording and the Late 1920s |series=Columbia Master Book Discography, Volume I |editor-last=Brooks |editor-first=Tim |edition=Online |publisher=Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) |url=https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/resources/detail/114}}</ref> "Viva-tonal" records set a benchmark in tone and clarity unequaled on commercial discs during the 78-rpm era. The first electrical recordings were made by [[Art Gillham]], the "Whispering Pianist". In a secret agreement with Victor, electrical technology was kept secret to avoid hurting sales of acoustic records.

Louis Sterling, managing director of the Columbia Graphophone Company, had been the moving force behind bringing Western Electric's recording process, and the British takeover. Originally from New York, Sterling became Chairman of Columbia NY from 1925 until 1931, and oversaw stability and success.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

In 1926, Columbia acquired [[Okeh Records]] and its growing stable of jazz and blues artists, including [[Louis Armstrong]] and [[Clarence Williams (musician)|Clarence Williams]]. Columbia had already built a catalog of blues and jazz artists, including [[Bessie Smith]] in their 14000-D Race series. Columbia also had a successful "Hillbilly" series (15000-D) with [[Dan Hornsby]] among others. By 1927, the "Sweet Jazz" bandleader [[Guy Lombardo]] also joined Columbia and recorded forty five 78 rpm's by 1931.<ref>[https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/guy-lombardo-and-his-royal-canadians-emc The Canadian Encyclopedia: "Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians" Mookg, Edward B. (6 April 2008 rev. 4 March 2015)  on thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en]</ref>  In 1928, [[Paul Whiteman]], the nation's most popular orchestra leader, left Victor to record for Columbia. During the same year, Columbia executive [[Frank Buckley Walker]] pioneered some of the first country music or "hillbilly" genre recordings with the [[Johnson City sessions]] in Tennessee, including artists such as [[Clarence Horton Greene]] and [[Charlie Bowman|"Fiddlin'" Charlie Bowman]]. He followed that with a return to Tennessee the next year, as well as recording sessions in other cities of the South. [[Moran and Mack]] as The Two Black Crows 1926 recording 'The Early Bird Catches the Worm' sold 2.5 million copies.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Murrells |first=Joseph |url=http://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr |title=The book of golden discs |date=1978 |publisher=London : Barrie & Jenkins |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-214-20512-5}}</ref>

In 1929, [[Ben Selvin]] became house bandleader and A. & R. director. Other favorites in the Viva-tonal era included [[Ruth Etting]], Paul Whiteman, [[Fletcher Henderson]], [[Ipana Troubadours]] (a Sam Lanin group), and [[Ted Lewis (musician)|Ted Lewis]]. Columbia used acoustic recording for "budget label" pop product well into 1929 on the labels Harmony, Velvet Tone (both general purpose labels), and [[Diva Records|Diva]] (sold exclusively at [[W.T. Grant]] stores). When Edison Records folded, Columbia was the oldest surviving record label.