RCA Records

=== 1950s ===
[[File:Victor Needles box - Museum of the North Beach (cropped).jpg|thumb|Box of Victor brand phonograph needles, featuring "Nipper".]]Among the first RCA Victor LPs released in 1950 was ''[[Gaîté Parisienne]]'' by [[Jacques Offenbach]], performed by [[Arthur Fiedler]] and the [[Boston Pops Orchestra]], which had been recorded in [[Boston]]'s [[Symphony Hall, Boston|Symphony Hall]] on June 20, 1947; the record was given the catalogue number LM-1001. Non-classical LP record albums were issued with the prefix "LPM". When RCA Victor began issuing classical LPs in stereophonic sound in 1958, the prefix "LSC" was used. Non-classical stereo LPs were issued with the prefix "LSP". RCA utilized these catalog prefixes until 1973, when they were changed to "ARL1" and "APL1" for stereo classical and stereo non-classical single LPs, respectively.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.musicinthemail.com/audiohistoryLP.html |title=LPs historic |first=Edward |last=Wallerstein |publisher=Musicinthemail.com |access-date=January 8, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BUUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA11 |title=Diskery Goes 33 in March To Service Entire Market; 45 Promotion in High Gear |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |date=January 7, 1950 |access-date=January 8, 2012}}</ref>

During the 1950s, RCA Victor had three subsidiary or specialty labels: [[Groove Records|Groove]], [[Vik Records|Vik]] and "X".

The edition of ''Billboard'' magazine dated April 11, 1953, announced a new RCA Victor subsidiary label, its first to use independent distribution and was nameless when it was first revealed. For the lack of any better designation, Billboard chose to refer to the new, unnamed label in the story as Label "X"; the new label began to hire staffers and decide on a direction, and the name stuck until 1955. RCA Victor officially announced the formation of label "X" on April 20, 1953. Groove was an [[R&B]] specialty label founded in 1954 and folded into Vik in 1957;<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://home.earthlink.net/~v1tiger/labelX.html |title=Label "X" |year=2005 |first=JC |last=Marion |journal=Jamm Upp |volume=2 |issue=36}}</ref> the Vik label was discontinued the following year.

From the label's beginnings in 1902, and intensifying through the 1940s and 1950s, RCA Victor was in direct competition with [[Columbia Records]]. A number of recordings were made with the [[NBC Symphony Orchestra]], conducted by [[Arturo Toscanini]]; sometimes RCA Victor utilized recordings of broadcast concerts (Toscanini had been recording for the label since the days of [[acoustic recording]]s, and RCA Victor had been recording the NBC Symphony since its creation in 1937). After Toscanini retired in the spring of 1954, the NBC Symphony was reorganized later that year as the [[Symphony of the Air]]. The orchestra, while no longer connected to NBC, continued to record for RCA Victor, as well as other labels, usually conducted by [[Leopold Stokowski]]. RCA Victor also released a number of recordings with the [[RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra]], which was usually drawn from either Philadelphia or New York musicians, as well as members of the Symphony of the Air, and the orchestra of the [[Metropolitan Opera]]. By the late 1950s, RCA Victor had fewer high prestige orchestras under contract than Columbia had: RCA Victor recorded the [[Chicago Symphony Orchestra]], the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]], and the Boston Pops, whereas Columbia had the [[Cleveland Orchestra]], the [[Philadelphia Orchestra]], and the [[New York Philharmonic Orchestra]] under contracts.

On October 6, 1953, RCA Victor held experimental stereophonic sessions in New York City's Manhattan Center with Leopold Stokowski conducting a group of New York City musicians in performances of [[George Enescu]]'s ''[[Romanian Rhapsodies (Enescu)#Rhapsody No. 1 in A major|Roumanian Rhapsody No. 1]]'' and the waltz from [[Tchaikovsky]]'s opera ''[[Eugene Onegin (opera)|Eugene Onegin]]''. There were additional stereo tests in December, again in the Manhattan Center, this time with [[Pierre Monteux]] conducting members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In February 1954, RCA Victor made its first commercial stereophonic recordings, taping the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by [[Charles Münch]], in a performance of ''The Damnation of Faust'' by Hector Berlioz. This began a practice of simultaneously recording orchestras with both stereophonic and monaural equipment. Other early stereo recordings were made of Toscanini's final NBC concerts (never officially issued) and [[Guido Cantelli]] respectively, with the NBC Symphony Orchestra; the Boston Pops Orchestra under Arthur Fiedler; and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under [[Fritz Reiner]]. Initially, RCA used RT-21 quarter-inch tape recorders (which ran at 30&nbsp;inches per second), wired to mono mixers, with Neumann U-47 cardioid and M-49/50 omnidirectional microphones. Then they switched to an Ampex 300–3 one-half inch machine, running at 15&nbsp;inches per second (which was later increased to 30&nbsp;inches per second). These recordings were initially issued in 1955 on special stereophonic reel-to-reel tapes and then, beginning in 1958, on vinyl LPs with the "Living Stereo" logo. RCA has continued to reissue many of these "Living Stereo" recordings on CD.<ref>''The History of Living Stereo'', RCA Victor liner notes</ref> Another 1953 project for RCA was converting the acoustically superior building [[Webster Hall]] into its main East Coast recording studio. RCA Victor operated this studio venue from 1953 to 1968.

In September 1954, RCA Victor introduced "Gruve-Gard" where the center and edge of a record are thicker
than the playing area, reducing scuff marks during handling and when stacked on a turntable with an automatic record changer.<ref>{{cite web |first=Clint |last=Hough |url=http://www.sixtiescity.net/60trivia/60trivia.htm |title=Bringing on back the good times |publisher=Sixties City |access-date=January 8, 2012}}</ref> Most competitors quickly adopted the raised label and edges.

In 1955, RCA Victor purchased the recording contract of [[Elvis Presley]] from [[Sun Records]] for the then-exorbitant sum of $40,000. His first single for  RCA Victor was "[[Heartbreak Hotel]]", recorded in January 1956. Ten million Presley singles were sold by the label during 1956; Presley went on to become RCA Victor's biggest selling artist.

Effective in 1957, EMI/HMV ended its 55-year association with RCA Victor, after EMI's acquisition of [[Capitol Records]] in 1955.<ref name="Inc.1956">{{cite book |author=Nielsen Business Media, Inc. |title=Billboard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8x4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA14 |date=March 17, 1956 |publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc. |pages=14– |issn=0006-2510}}</ref><ref name="MartinHornsby1994">{{cite book |author1=Sir George Martin |author2=Jeremy Hornsby |title=All You Need Is Ears: The Inside Personal Story of the Genius who Created The Beatles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Yoio9MewhcC&pg=PA84 |date=October 15, 1994 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-312-11482-4 |pages=84– }}</ref> Capitol then became the main distributor for EMI recordings in the Americas; [[Decca Records]] became the manufacturer and distributor for RCA Victor in the United Kingdom, using the RCA lightning bolt logo, instead of the Nipper/His Master's Voice trademark for which EMI held the rights to in the U.K. and Europe.
RCA set up its own British manufacturing and distribution in 1969.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tm/t-find/t-find-number?detailsrequested=H&trademark=325592 |publisher=United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office |title=Trade Mark Details as at 13 November 2012: Case details for Trade Mark 325592 |date=September 7, 2009 |access-date=November 13, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=British RCA to Cut Decca Ltd. Tie In U.K., Eire & Form Own Set-Up|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TSgEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22british+rca+to+cut+decca%22&pg=PA3 |access-date=August 19, 2015 |magazine=Billboard |date=November 4, 1967}}</ref>

RCA Victor issued several spoken word albums in the 1950s and 60s, notably the soundtracks of the films ''[[Richard III (1955 film)|Richard III]]'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.soundtrackcollector.com/catalog/soundtrackdetail.php?movieid=37444 |title=Richard III (1955) – Soundtrack details |publisher=SoundtrackCollector.com |date=May 13, 2007 |access-date=January 8, 2012}}</ref> ''[[A Man for All Seasons (1966 film)|A Man for All Seasons]]'' and ''[[The Taming of the Shrew (1967 film)|The Taming of the Shrew]]'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cd.ciao.co.uk/Taming_Of_The_Shrew_The_Various_Artists__5870576 |title=Taming Of The Shrew, The &nbsp;– Various Artists : Read reviews and compare prices at Ciao.co.uk |publisher=Cd.ciao.co.uk |date=July 26, 1999 |access-date=June 8, 2012}}</ref> as well as complete versions of the [[National Theatre of Great Britain]] stage productions of ''[[Othello]]'' (starring [[Laurence Olivier]]) and ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]'' (starring [[Maggie Smith]], who also played Desdemona in the Olivier ''Othello''). None of these albums have appeared on compact disc, but the films of ''Richard III'', ''A Man For All Seasons'', ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and the filmed version of Olivier's ''Othello'' have all been issued on DVD.