Sound Recording in India - a brief history
Michael Kinnear
The 'talking machine' must be one of the most productive inventions of the modern age - for it has not only given a great number of people around the world a great amount of pleasure in the listening to either cylinder recordings in the early days and later disc records, but has also provided a substantial number of people with a means of employment and endeavor in various aspects of the industry that 'sound recording' has provided.
India has been no exception to the phenomenal popularity of the sound recordings and has in fact been at the forefront of both technological changes and cultural changes as represented in sound recordings. During the 1890's a handful of traders, in Bombay and Calcutta, had taken on the phonograph as a side line to their other merchandise, and by the early 1900's some of these traders were offering 'private' cylinder recordings - by eminent singers and songstresses - as an inducement to potential purchasers of whatever models of phonograph that were on sale.
These recording were not commercially produced, but made on blanks supplied by the traders. Amongst these traders was an importer named Valabhdas Runchordas, of Bombay, who imported phonograph machines and blank cylinders, and became one of the first wholesalers of Edison, Columbia, and Pathé products.
As far as is known the foundation of an indigenous sound recording industry in India begins with Hemendra Mohan Bose, who began to take cylinder recordings of some of his friends in Calcutta during 1900 or sometime soon afterwards. Before long H. Bose, in business as a perfumer, and with an interest in photograph and printing.
To begin with these recordings were not considered for the general public, and were taken by H. Bose simply to preserve the voices and sounds of his friends for private use. Within a couple of years H. Bose came to be known as the 'first Indian talking machine man' and transformed his private interest in sound recordings into a commercial venture - which were marketed in the name of H. Bose's Records (cylinders).
While H. Bose had been active in a private capacity, The Gramophone Company, Ltd, London, whose establishment in England dates back to 1898, and who by 1901, had been reformed in the name of The Gramophone and Typewriter, Ltd., and had set up a branch office in Calcutta. The Gramophone Company, had recorded some forty tiles of Indian repertoire in London during early 1899, which were issued as 'E. Berliner's Gramophone' records, however, these recordings were most likely of little more than curiosity value.
The establishment of a branch office in India was soon followed by the arrival of Frederick William Gaisberg in Calcutta in November 1902 along with young George Dillnutt - to take recordings for The Gramophone & Typewriter, Ltd., as part of a Far Eastern recording expedition. Fred Gaisberg took some 550 recordings in Calcutta during November and December 1902, the commercially issued discs of which had reached the market in India by mid-1903. These early disc records were manufactured in Hanover, Germany, a practice that continued up until 1908, when The Gramophone Co., Ltd., established it's own disc record manufacturing plant at Sealdah, an inner suburb of Calcutta.
As the public demand for sound recordings and talking machines grew - so did the providers. The most notable of the agents and wholesalers was Valabhdas Runchordas, who traded in COLUMBIA, EDISON and PATHÉ products from December 1902. Valabhdas Runchordas was to remain prominent in the sound recording industry for several decades and might have dominated the industry in India were it not for the dominance of The Gramophone Co., Ltd., who by sheer marketing force and extensive financial commitment -succeeded in dominating the industry in India.
The Gramophone & Typewriter, Ltd., engaged upon other recording expeditions in India during 1904-05, led by William Sinkler Darby, assisted by Max Hampe, 1906-07, led by William Conrad Gaisberg, assisted by George Dillnutt, and again in 1908, led by George Dillnutt who was assisted in the early part of the expedition by Fred Gaisberg.
While this activity had been going on Nicole Frères, Ltd., London, had also undertaken a recording tour of India beginning in Calcutta during 1904 under the 'recording expert' Stephen Carl Porter. The issue of these recordings appeared in India as brown, celluloid-coated cardboard discs during 1905 as the NICOLE RECORD. At this stage both The Gramophone & Typewriter, Ltd., and Nicole Frères, Ltd.,in India were dependent upon disc record pressing facilities in Europe for supplies to India.
In late 1905 there were rumors and reports of disc records being both recorded and manufactured in Bombay, and it seems that The James Manufacturing Coy. Bombay joined forces with a cycle trader named Rustomji Dorabji and had engaged a German recording expert to take the recordings - which were then manufactured on three hand presses in a rented room in Bombay by a business trading in the name of The Wellington Cycle Co., who marketed the discs through the Singer Phono and Record Agency as the SINGER RECORD, and also the JAMES OPERA RECORD through The James Manufacturing Coy..
During late 1905, Heinrich Bumb and Wilhelm Hadert took recordings for the Beka Record, G.m.b.H., Berlin, in both Bombay and Calcutta on behalf of Valabhdas Runchordas & Co.,, which were issued soon afterwards as BEKA RECORD (8") and BEKA GRAND RECORD (10") in 1906. To distribute the Beka products, Valabhdas Runchordas organized The Talking Machine and Indian Record Co., with offices in Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi and Madras.
During 1907, the Lyrophon-werke, Adolf Lieban & Co., of Hanover helped T. S. Ramchunder and Bros., Bombay, to place their RAM-0-PHONE DISC RECORD (later changed to RAMA-GRAPH DISC RECORD) on the market, and the International Talking Machine Co.m.b.H. Berlin engaged an agent in India , who traded as The Talking Machine Co. of India, based in Calcutta, to assist in organizing a recording expedition in India - which soon afterwards were issued as the ODEON RECORD.
Apart from the JAMES OPERA RECORD and SINGER RECORD - all of the other makes were being pressed in Europe. In the meantime H. Bose had succeeded in recording and marketing cylinder records in Calcutta - with the assistance of Pathé Frères, Paris - and issued as H. BOSE'S RECORD's (cylinders).
Soon after H. Bose entered the indigenous sound recording industry a couple of other firms by the names of Mukherjee & Mukharji of Calcutta - who marketed the ROYAL RECORD and The Binapani Record Co. marketed the BINAPANI DISC RECORD. Both if these firms had a relatively short life-span as producers of sound recordings, but the competition offered by these firms had been a major factor which had compelled The Gramophone & Typewriter, Ltd., to establish it's own factory in Calcutta by 1908, which gave the advantage of local manufacture, while all of the other major brands of disc records continued to be reliant upon their manufacturing facilities in Europe.
By 1908, H. Bose had conceded to technological problems and placed the transfer of his cylinder records to disc through Pathé Frères, Paris who reissued his cylinder recordings on disc manufactured at their factory at Forest, Belgium. Shortly afterwards, Pathé Phono Cinema Chine took over the Indian repertoire, including the H. Bose recordings, and organised further recording sessions in India, along with establishing branch offices in Calcutta and Bombay.
Between 1908 and 1912, The Gramophone Co., Ltd., went from strength to strength in the marketing of not only Indian repertoire but also in providing disc records for the whole Asian region. By 1912 most of the competitive makes had vanished from the market in India - with only the SUN DISC RECORD, marketed by F.B. Thanewala & Co., and the SINGER RECORD -marketed by The Singer Phono & General Agency, both manufactured in Germany or England, appearing on the market in India.
The BEKA GRAND RECORD and the ODEON RECORD had achieved some success in India but the PATHÉ (disque) despite retaining H. Bose as their agent had failed to match the might of The Gramophone Co, Ltd. In 1912, a ban on German manufactured goods being imported into India, curtailed the supply of Beka and Odeon products.
To off-set any competition by 1910 The Gramophone Co., Ltd., had introduced the ZONOPHONE RECORD - as a cheap-priced rival to the SUN DISC RECORD, The ZONOPHONE RECORD at times imitated the exact couplings being marketed by BEKA GRAND RECORD, RAMA-GRAPH DISC RECORD, and the ODEON RECORD, amongst other makes. The introduction of the ZONOPHONE RECORD again displayed The Gramophone Co., Ltd's ability to control the market in India.
By 1914, Valabhdas Lakhmidas & Co., (successors to Valabhdas Runchordas & Co.,) had remained the major competitor to The Gramophone Co., Ltd., to the extent that the company acquired machinery from German and Japanese sources and established The Viel-o-phone Co., Ltd., which succeeded for a short time in manufacturing discs from their small factory at Matunga, Bombay, with some assistance from J. E. Hough, Ltd., London. Valabhdas Runchordas also travelled to Germany hoping to acquire the master discs of his 'Beka Record' and 'Odeon Record' repertoires, however he only succeeded in acquiring the masters of the master discs of the SINGER RECORD - which were later reissued under the brand name of PHON-O-PHONE.
1916 saw the 'official' introduction of HIS MASTER'S VOICE record label to India - by which time The Gramophone Co. Ltd., had only The Viel-o-phone Co., Ltd., in Bombay to consider as a rival – as all the other European manufactured brands had vanished from the market - except the RAMA-GRAPH DISC RECORD of T. S. Ramchunder & Bros., Bombay, which continued to be manufactured in Germany by Carl Lindström, A.G. or one of its subsidiary pressing plants.
The World War between 1914-18 and reduced the sound recording industry in India to just two major operators: The Gramophone Co., Ltd., who had virtually created a monopoly to itself with just two labels - HIS MASTER'S VOICE and the ZONOPHONE RECORD, and Valabhdas Runchordas & Co., operating The Viel-o-phone Co., Ltd., with little more than reissues of the SINGER RECORD on PHON-0-PHONE RECORD and a very small repertoire of VIEL-O-PHONE RECORD issues, along with a few pressings from the English "WINNER" label of Edison Bell, Ltd., from the factory at Bombay.
Although The Pathephone Co., of Bombay, and T. S. Ramchunder & Bros., had remained active during the war years their output was very meager compared to both The Gramophone Co. Ltd., and The Veil-o-phone Co., Ltd., which had also virtually come to a standstill. By 1919 The Gramophone Co., Ltd., was the only active disc record manufacturer in India and virtually controlled the market. During the 1920's The Gramophone Co., Ltd., continued to record hundreds of titles in various parts of India along with an extensive program of recording across the whole of Asia from Burma to China. In 1925, the ZONOPHONE RECORD was dropped and replaced by a green labeled HIS MASTER'S VOICE series.
In 1928, The Gramophone Co., Ltd., introduced the TWIN record label -partly to exploit their past catalogue of recordings and also to saturate the market due to impending threats of the Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd., and it's associated company, Carl Lindström, A.G. and the ODEON record being marketed in India. There was also a renewed attempt by Valabhdas Runchordas to rejuvenate The Viel-o-phone Co., Ltd., - again with financial and technical support from Edison Bell, Ltd., London, which re-introduced the VIEL-O-PHONE label manufactured by the refurbished Mahim factory.
The manufacturing capacity of The Gramophone Co., Ltd., factory at Sealdah, Calcutta, had reached such dimensions that the plant was being operated twenty four hours a day in several shifts by 1926, and with this pressure it was decided to seek an alternative sight and erect a new and larger factory to cater for The Gramophone Co., Ltd., requirements for the Indian and Asian markets. The new factory of The Gramophone Co., Ltd., was built at Dum Dum, some nine miles from central Calcutta, and commenced pressing in mid-1928.
By 1929 The Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd., were actively recording in Ceylon, and soon commenced recording in Burma India and the Dutch East Indies. Carl Lindström, A.G. had also resumed recording sessions in Ceylon, Burma, and South India. At this point in time both the COLUMBIA and ODEON record labels were operated in competition with each other - and The Gramophone Co., Ltd., whose HIS MASTER'S VOICE and TWIN labels issued records - sometimes with identical coupling to those of it's competitors.
Not having their own disc record factory in India, the COLUMBIA and ODEON labels were manufactured in London and Berlin respectively for the market in India and surrounding areas. Part of the strategy of the Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd., and Carl Lindström, A.G., extending their activities into Asia, was due to strong competition from the Polyphon Musikwerke, A.G., of Berlin, who produced recordings of Chinese and Malay repertoires on the PAGODA and HINDENBURG labels for local distributors.
In 1930, Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd., London, took over the Pathé Orient factory in Shanghai, China, hoping to develop this as a base for the South Asian market and take away some of the market share that The Gramophone Co., Ltd., had dominated for several years - sharing some of the territory with the Victor Talking Machine Co., Camden, USA. an associate company. The Shanghai factory operated as the China Record Company. Ltd., as manufacturers, and Pathé Orient, Ltd., as distributors, pressing BEKA, ODEON and PATHÉ (vertical cut) discs for the Chinese and Asian market.
In April 1931, Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd., which included control of Carl Lindström, A.G. Berlin, [ODEON]; Compagnie Générale des Machines Parlantes, Pathé Frères, Paris, along with Pathé Orient; and The Nipponophone Co., Japan - representing COLUMBIA in that country - merged with The Gramophone Co., Ltd., worldwide. This merger formed Electric and Musical Industries, Ltd., (EMI, Ltd) into the largest sound recording company in the world, a corporate body representing not only it's major amalgamated companies but also dozens of subsidiary concerns, agents and distributors internationally.
Despite the merger of 'Columbia' - 'Gramophone' - 'Odeon' and 'Pathé' interests and the control of these companies in India and Asia being under the 'one roof' the recording sessions operated by the various companies was expanded to such a level that each division of EMI, Ltd., was often questioning the activities of the other in both India and Asia.
The productivity of the recording engineers in these regions was somewhere in the region of 200 hundred recordings per two month period, with the effect that the HIS MASTER'S VOICE, TWIN, COLUMBIA and ODEON catalogues showed a rapid increase in releases.
Although financially controlled by Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd., London, the Carl Lindström, A.G. of Berlin, had been independently established in India in 1929, through distributing agents, and in the early 1930’s, reorganized its activities in India by appointing the Ruby Record Co., of Bombay, and Saraswathi Stores, Madras, to handle their ODEON label, for which the manufacturing of discs shifted from Berlin to The Gramophone Co., Ltd., factory at Dum Dum.
At the same time that this process was going on The Gramophone Co., Ltd., in India introduced a scheme of promoting what they termed 'private recorders' which meant that private companies were encouraged to access the recordings made by The Gramophone Co., Ltd., under contract, and have these recordings issued under their own labels, as if in competition to HIS MASTER'S VOICE, COLUMBIA, and ODEON.
The most important of these 'private recorders' were: The Megaphone Co., with the MEGAPHONE RECORD; the Hindusthan Musical Products, and Varieties Syndicate, with the - HINDUSTHAN RECORD and the NEW THEATRES RECORD; Senola Musical Products, with the SENOLA RECORD; all based in Calcutta, and The Talking Picture Record Company, originally established in Rangoon, Burma, but soon moved to Calcutta, with the SHAHENSHAHI RECORD, and DILRUBA RECORD. There was also Hutchin's & Co., Madras, - HUTCHIN'S RECORD; who took their own recordings and Janki Nath Kumar & Bros., Lahore, - JIEN-O-PHONE RECORD.
Within the space of a few years there were no less that forty 'private recorders' with their own labels being manufactured - under contract - by The Gramophone Co., Ltd., Dum Dum. apart from their own issues on HIS MASTER'S VOICE, TWIN, COLUMBIA and ODEON. Some of these 'private recorders' only managed a couple of batches of releases, before exiting the market, while others such as The Marwari Record Co., Jodhpur, and The Maxitone Record Co, Ltd., of Cawnpore, built up extensive catalogues of 'regional' repertoires.
During the early 1930's the 'talkies' had reached India and created a demand for songs on record which was to change the function of the sound recording industry in India, to the extent that the previously dominant classical and light music became virtually redundant within a couple of years amounting to just a few percentage of the company's output. The songs from the films were what the buying public wanted on discs, and although the Dum Dum factory was working to capacity, the era was one of the most productive in the company's history.
While The Gramophone Co., Ltd., enjoyed the success of it's productivity resulting from the songs issued from the films of the rapidly expanding motion picture industry, the Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd., - COLUMBIA RECORD, and Carl Lindstrom, AG. - ODEON - aggressively recorded in the areas of classical and regional music.
Following the example of the ODEON label, The Musical Products, Limited, Madras was formed in 1934 with financial backing on a large jewellery firm to record and promote the BROADCAST record in India. Offering large sums of money The Musical Products, Ltd. managed to lure some of the finest talents in India to it's label, with the disc records were being manufactured by The Crystalate Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Tonbridge, in England, but within a few years the BROADCAST label too failed to achieve profitability and closed.
The revitalization of the sound recording industry and particularly the success of the new popular medium of 'film songs' did of course not go un-noticed. In 1935, a promoter by the name of Dulerai Pandya found considerable financial backing to form The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., with offices in Bombay and a factory at Wadala in the northern suburbs of Bombay.
The rise of The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., and it's label - YOUNG INDIA, was the most serious attempt to break the monopoly that The Gramophone Co., Ltd., had held for several decades, and it went far in signing up the Prabhat film company to it's contract, along with engaging in a number of 'private recorders' - as had The Gramophone Co., Ltd., to extend it's market share of products.
Thus the situation in India had changed from the sound recording industry being based in just two active labels in 1927 to over one hundred a decade later. Apart from the 'Gramophone' and 'National' manufacturing plants, a small firm by the name of Samudophone Co., set up in the Punjab attempting to break into the sound recording industry but failed to make any impression and soon folded. Also in the Punjab, at Chehharta, a small factory was set up by H.R. Singh & Co., but failed to go into production, and some years later the land and plant were bought by The Gramophone Co., Ltd., as an auxiliary factory.
Over in Shanghai the operations of the China Record Co., Ltd., and Pathé Orient, Ltd., had slowly eaten into the market that had formerly been the province of The Gramophone Co., Ltd. in Hong Kong, particularly as far as the Chinese and South East Asian repertoire were concerned. In 1934 the Shanghai businesses were renamed Electric and Musical Industries (China) Ltd., and continued to be run as a profitable concern for that region through to 1939. Although there was a certain degree of overlapping of supplies, The Gramophone Co., Ltd., remained dominant in Singapore and the Malay States, producing extensive catalogues of Chinese and Malay recordings which were issued on the CHAP SINGA (Lion) and CHAP KUTCHING (Cat) labels for local distributors, alongside their own 'house' brands.
The onset of World War Two found The Gramophone Co., Ltd., in all sorts of difficulties and disruption to it's recording and disc pressing program which had been expanding on a very profitable basis. During the war years the Dum Dum factory had turned over much of its resources to providing items for the Government of India, and found several of it's key personnel on War Service.
While the war continued The Gramophone Co., Ltd., had considered that it would be opportune to establish an auxiliary factory in case the Dum Dum factory became inoperative, and thus the small plant of H.R. Singh & Co., at Chehharta, near Amritsar was purchased, and after some teething problems went into production in 1943.
The effect of the war on the sound recording industry in India was direct in that it forced the closure of Carl Lindstrom, AG's interests in India with the ODEON repertoire being transferred to the COLUMBIA label. The slump in sales during the war years also had a dramatic effect on The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., which had risen to being a strong competitor to The Gramophone Co., Ltd.
The 'National's, major resource had been the Prabhat Film Company, Poona, which had provided The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., with a large number of strong selling 'film songs' - but had shifted it's allegiance to The Gramophone Co., Ltd., in about 1943. Thereafter The National Gramophone Co., Ltd., was highly reliant upon 'custom pressing work particularly from The Bombay Record Co., Bombay and other 'private recorders' - some of whom also had contracts with The Gramophone Co., Ltd., for pressing work - under different labels. The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., also took on pressing work of 'Persian' repertoires on for Iranian clients, represented in Bombay by The United Iranian Co., with discs pressed under the YOUNG IRAN and NAYA-YE-IRAN labels.
By 1946 it was evident that India would become independent of the British Empire and that the country would be divided into India, West and East Pakistan. As the political maneuvering unfolded The Gramophone Co., Ltd., purchased the business of Janki Nath Kumar & Bros., Lahore, which had been highly successful, and also relinquished it's offices in both Karachi and Lahore. The Gramophone Co., Ltd., also acquired the repertoires of The Frontier Trading Co., with the BANGA-PHONE RECORD, and the Bajaj & Co., with the GULSHAN record, whose businesses were located at Peshawar, in the North West Frontier Provinces.
The changed economic and political climate also caused The Gramophone Co., Ltd., to restructure it's corporate interests in India into The Gramophone Co (India) Ltd., as an Indian company and also to close most of the 'private recorder' programs that it had been operating since the early 1930's. While India was going through the motions of establishing it's independence, the factory in Shanghai, which had been in the hands of the Japanese during the war years, had become somewhat dormant although not closed with the result that a certain amount of the manufacturing done by the Shanghai factory was returned to Dum Dum for servicing in the Asian region.
After a couple of years absence from Pakistan territories The Gramophone Co., Ltd., re-opened offices in Karachi and Dacca in 1950, but over the next three years was obliged to re-construct it's operations in both East and West Pakistan into the formation of The Gramophone Company of Pakistan, Ltd., jointly organized by EMI, Ltd., London and Pakistani share-holders, eventually becoming EMI (Pakistan) Ltd.
During 1954, the Dum Dum factory was forced to close for several months due to disputes over worker conditions, and had to have some of it's discs pressed by another company. Although The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Bombay, was nominated to undertake the pressing work on behalf of The Gramophone Co., Ltd., its disc pressing factory at Wadala had become un-functional, and was in drastic need of an overhaul. Doubtless The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., might have been glad to have the business as it had been gradually sliding into failure, and indeed survived only a couple of more years, eventually closing it's offices and factory in 1956.
The Gramophone Co., Ltd., turned to The Plastic and Industrial Corporation, Bombay, who had a small factory at Worli, which produced 'plastic' records in limited quantities. For a short time the discs issued by The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd., were pressed by the 'Plastic' factory at Worli, which also produced the BULBUL label for Music Masters Ltd., Bombay.
The Plastic and Industrial Corporation, Bombay, holds the distinction of being the first company in India to manufacture micro-groove recordings in the long-play format, however, due to technical problems, the manufacture of vinyl and long-play discs did not last long and the company gave up its involvement with pressing disc records. During the phase of The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd labor dispute, the Dum Dum factory was re-fitted to produce micro-groove discs.
The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd., tended to rationalize its assets and resources during the 1950's with the winding down of the 'Columbia' branch of it's operation and also in curtailing the number of 'private recorders' that it supplied pressings for. The decade also brought in new technology by the introduction of the Long Play (33-1/3rpm), Single Play and Extended Play discs (45rpm), although the 78-rpm disc remained in production up until 1970.
The total number of 78 rpm discs recorded and issued by The Gramophone Co., Ltd., in India is estimated to be in the region of some 500,000 titles to which might be added some 30,000 recordings by the various competitor companies that had been operating in India over the past sixty odd years.
During the late 1960's The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd. was challenged in the market for Indian repertoire by the formation of Polydor India, Ltd., who had a disc pressing plant at Kandivlee, north of Bombay. Thus developed a market struggle between the 'Gramophone' and 'Polydor' companies in India for the rights to songs from the films being produced by numerous motion picture producers in India. In recent years Polydor India, Ltd., has been reformed into Music India, Ltd., and remains a vital force in the sound recording industry in India.
Hindusthan Musical Products, Ltd., who had since 1933, been recording their own repertoire along with resources of The Gramophone Co., Ltd., formed The Indian Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., in 1977 with a disc record factory at Taratalla Industrial Area, Calcutta, and pressed their own HINDUSTHAN RECORD and INRECO discs - that had previously been manufactured by The Gramophone Co., Ltd., at Dum Dum.
Perhaps the most significant development of the 1970's was the introduction of the cassette, which had found most companies in India fettered by Government regulation in regard to the importation of machinery and tariff restrictions. While the matter were being sorted out 'pirate' cassette concerns in Singapore and Thailand were saturating the Indian and Asian market for sound recordings with 'illegal' copies of much of The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd repertoire.
Although the importation of 'pirate' cassettes was basically brought to a halt as far as India was concerned, the public demand for product of both old and new recordings was such that several cassette manufacturing concerns came into the market in India, again often producing 'illegal' copies of The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd, repertoire, or versions of the same film songs and 'hits' that The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd., and Music India, Ltd., had paid high royalty rates for access to.
Amongst the dozens of new cassette manufacturing companies, most of whom were engaged in quite legitimate marketing of there own products, there were a number of operators who had quite blatantly sought to damage The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd dominance of the market by marketing pirate copies of their product, and very nearly succeeded in forcing closure of the once almighty company.
The 1990's have witnessed the rise of new sound recording companies such as MagnaSound (India), Ltd., Bombay; The Master Recording Co., Ltd., Madras; Concord, Ltd., Calcutta; CBS Gramophone Records and Tapes. Ltd., Bombay; Super Cassettes Industries, Ltd., Delhi, Music Today, Ltd., Delhi; The Venus Record Co. Ltd., and many others, all vying for their market share in the Indian sound recording industry.
The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd. {now known as Saregama, Ltd.}has without doubt lost much of the market to these numerous other sound recording companies, but it is still recognized as the market leader in India. It is estimated that during the 1990's there have been well over one hundred companies set up to produce, manufacture and market cassettes in particular.
The international demand for Indian music has also led to a number of companies being formed in Europe, the United States of America, and other places, who have engaged upon their own recording programs, with such companies as Chhanda Dhara, Germany; Natraj Music, Germany: Audiorec, Ltd., England; Navras Records, England; Nimbus Records, England; Ali Akbar College of Music, (AACM), Raga Records, New York; India Archive Music, New York; Moment Records, Oriental Records, New York, and several others producing fine recordings aimed primarily at the growth in popularity of the compact disc.
Internationally the new medium for sound recordings - the compact disc -has totally revitalized the world market, but at present the cassette remains the popular medium in India, and it has yet to be seen how the various sound recording companies in India will adapt to the compact disc and other technological improvements.
Reflecting upon some ninety years of sound recording in India, it is sad to see that the preservation of old recordings, has been very badly neglected, particularly in regard to the 'non-film' repertoire, perhaps the newer generations will take a more vital interest in the incredible wealth of musical heritage and culture that has been preserved on the old discs.
Full Version: Sound Recording In India
QUOTE(maheshks @ Jul 13 2005, 08:48 PM)
Sound Recording in India - a brief history
Michael Kinnear
The 'talking machine' must be one of the most productive inventions of the modern age - for it has not only given a great number of people around the world a great amount of pleasure in the listening to either cylinder recordings in the early days and later disc records, but has also provided a substantial number of people with a means of employment and endeavor in various aspects of the industry that 'sound recording' has provided.
India has been no exception to the phenomenal popularity of the sound recordings and has in fact been at the forefront of both technological changes and cultural changes as represented in sound recordings. During the 1890's a handful of traders, in Bombay and Calcutta, had taken on the phonograph as a side line to their other merchandise, and by the early 1900's some of these traders were offering 'private' cylinder recordings - by eminent singers and songstresses - as an inducement to potential purchasers of whatever models of phonograph that were on sale.
These recording were not commercially produced, but made on blanks supplied by the traders. Amongst these traders was an importer named Valabhdas Runchordas, of Bombay, who imported phonograph machines and blank cylinders, and became one of the first wholesalers of Edison, Columbia, and Pathé products.
As far as is known the foundation of an indigenous sound recording industry in India begins with Hemendra Mohan Bose, who began to take cylinder recordings of some of his friends in Calcutta during 1900 or sometime soon afterwards. Before long H. Bose, in business as a perfumer, and with an interest in photograph and printing.
To begin with these recordings were not considered for the general public, and were taken by H. Bose simply to preserve the voices and sounds of his friends for private use. Within a couple of years H. Bose came to be known as the 'first Indian talking machine man' and transformed his private interest in sound recordings into a commercial venture - which were marketed in the name of H. Bose's Records (cylinders).
While H. Bose had been active in a private capacity, The Gramophone Company, Ltd, London, whose establishment in England dates back to 1898, and who by 1901, had been reformed in the name of The Gramophone and Typewriter, Ltd., and had set up a branch office in Calcutta. The Gramophone Company, had recorded some forty tiles of Indian repertoire in London during early 1899, which were issued as 'E. Berliner's Gramophone' records, however, these recordings were most likely of little more than curiosity value.
The establishment of a branch office in India was soon followed by the arrival of Frederick William Gaisberg in Calcutta in November 1902 along with young George Dillnutt - to take recordings for The Gramophone & Typewriter, Ltd., as part of a Far Eastern recording expedition. Fred Gaisberg took some 550 recordings in Calcutta during November and December 1902, the commercially issued discs of which had reached the market in India by mid-1903. These early disc records were manufactured in Hanover, Germany, a practice that continued up until 1908, when The Gramophone Co., Ltd., established it's own disc record manufacturing plant at Sealdah, an inner suburb of Calcutta.
As the public demand for sound recordings and talking machines grew - so did the providers. The most notable of the agents and wholesalers was Valabhdas Runchordas, who traded in COLUMBIA, EDISON and PATHÉ products from December 1902. Valabhdas Runchordas was to remain prominent in the sound recording industry for several decades and might have dominated the industry in India were it not for the dominance of The Gramophone Co., Ltd., who by sheer marketing force and extensive financial commitment -succeeded in dominating the industry in India.
The Gramophone & Typewriter, Ltd., engaged upon other recording expeditions in India during 1904-05, led by William Sinkler Darby, assisted by Max Hampe, 1906-07, led by William Conrad Gaisberg, assisted by George Dillnutt, and again in 1908, led by George Dillnutt who was assisted in the early part of the expedition by Fred Gaisberg.
While this activity had been going on Nicole Frères, Ltd., London, had also undertaken a recording tour of India beginning in Calcutta during 1904 under the 'recording expert' Stephen Carl Porter. The issue of these recordings appeared in India as brown, celluloid-coated cardboard discs during 1905 as the NICOLE RECORD. At this stage both The Gramophone & Typewriter, Ltd., and Nicole Frères, Ltd.,in India were dependent upon disc record pressing facilities in Europe for supplies to India.
In late 1905 there were rumors and reports of disc records being both recorded and manufactured in Bombay, and it seems that The James Manufacturing Coy. Bombay joined forces with a cycle trader named Rustomji Dorabji and had engaged a German recording expert to take the recordings - which were then manufactured on three hand presses in a rented room in Bombay by a business trading in the name of The Wellington Cycle Co., who marketed the discs through the Singer Phono and Record Agency as the SINGER RECORD, and also the JAMES OPERA RECORD through The James Manufacturing Coy..
During late 1905, Heinrich Bumb and Wilhelm Hadert took recordings for the Beka Record, G.m.b.H., Berlin, in both Bombay and Calcutta on behalf of Valabhdas Runchordas & Co.,, which were issued soon afterwards as BEKA RECORD (8") and BEKA GRAND RECORD (10") in 1906. To distribute the Beka products, Valabhdas Runchordas organized The Talking Machine and Indian Record Co., with offices in Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi and Madras.
During 1907, the Lyrophon-werke, Adolf Lieban & Co., of Hanover helped T. S. Ramchunder and Bros., Bombay, to place their RAM-0-PHONE DISC RECORD (later changed to RAMA-GRAPH DISC RECORD) on the market, and the International Talking Machine Co.m.b.H. Berlin engaged an agent in India , who traded as The Talking Machine Co. of India, based in Calcutta, to assist in organizing a recording expedition in India - which soon afterwards were issued as the ODEON RECORD.
Apart from the JAMES OPERA RECORD and SINGER RECORD - all of the other makes were being pressed in Europe. In the meantime H. Bose had succeeded in recording and marketing cylinder records in Calcutta - with the assistance of Pathé Frères, Paris - and issued as H. BOSE'S RECORD's (cylinders).
Soon after H. Bose entered the indigenous sound recording industry a couple of other firms by the names of Mukherjee & Mukharji of Calcutta - who marketed the ROYAL RECORD and The Binapani Record Co. marketed the BINAPANI DISC RECORD. Both if these firms had a relatively short life-span as producers of sound recordings, but the competition offered by these firms had been a major factor which had compelled The Gramophone & Typewriter, Ltd., to establish it's own factory in Calcutta by 1908, which gave the advantage of local manufacture, while all of the other major brands of disc records continued to be reliant upon their manufacturing facilities in Europe.
By 1908, H. Bose had conceded to technological problems and placed the transfer of his cylinder records to disc through Pathé Frères, Paris who reissued his cylinder recordings on disc manufactured at their factory at Forest, Belgium. Shortly afterwards, Pathé Phono Cinema Chine took over the Indian repertoire, including the H. Bose recordings, and organised further recording sessions in India, along with establishing branch offices in Calcutta and Bombay.
Between 1908 and 1912, The Gramophone Co., Ltd., went from strength to strength in the marketing of not only Indian repertoire but also in providing disc records for the whole Asian region. By 1912 most of the competitive makes had vanished from the market in India - with only the SUN DISC RECORD, marketed by F.B. Thanewala & Co., and the SINGER RECORD -marketed by The Singer Phono & General Agency, both manufactured in Germany or England, appearing on the market in India.
The BEKA GRAND RECORD and the ODEON RECORD had achieved some success in India but the PATHÉ (disque) despite retaining H. Bose as their agent had failed to match the might of The Gramophone Co, Ltd. In 1912, a ban on German manufactured goods being imported into India, curtailed the supply of Beka and Odeon products.
To off-set any competition by 1910 The Gramophone Co., Ltd., had introduced the ZONOPHONE RECORD - as a cheap-priced rival to the SUN DISC RECORD, The ZONOPHONE RECORD at times imitated the exact couplings being marketed by BEKA GRAND RECORD, RAMA-GRAPH DISC RECORD, and the ODEON RECORD, amongst other makes. The introduction of the ZONOPHONE RECORD again displayed The Gramophone Co., Ltd's ability to control the market in India.
By 1914, Valabhdas Lakhmidas & Co., (successors to Valabhdas Runchordas & Co.,) had remained the major competitor to The Gramophone Co., Ltd., to the extent that the company acquired machinery from German and Japanese sources and established The Viel-o-phone Co., Ltd., which succeeded for a short time in manufacturing discs from their small factory at Matunga, Bombay, with some assistance from J. E. Hough, Ltd., London. Valabhdas Runchordas also travelled to Germany hoping to acquire the master discs of his 'Beka Record' and 'Odeon Record' repertoires, however he only succeeded in acquiring the masters of the master discs of the SINGER RECORD - which were later reissued under the brand name of PHON-O-PHONE.
1916 saw the 'official' introduction of HIS MASTER'S VOICE record label to India - by which time The Gramophone Co. Ltd., had only The Viel-o-phone Co., Ltd., in Bombay to consider as a rival – as all the other European manufactured brands had vanished from the market - except the RAMA-GRAPH DISC RECORD of T. S. Ramchunder & Bros., Bombay, which continued to be manufactured in Germany by Carl Lindström, A.G. or one of its subsidiary pressing plants.
The World War between 1914-18 and reduced the sound recording industry in India to just two major operators: The Gramophone Co., Ltd., who had virtually created a monopoly to itself with just two labels - HIS MASTER'S VOICE and the ZONOPHONE RECORD, and Valabhdas Runchordas & Co., operating The Viel-o-phone Co., Ltd., with little more than reissues of the SINGER RECORD on PHON-0-PHONE RECORD and a very small repertoire of VIEL-O-PHONE RECORD issues, along with a few pressings from the English "WINNER" label of Edison Bell, Ltd., from the factory at Bombay.
Although The Pathephone Co., of Bombay, and T. S. Ramchunder & Bros., had remained active during the war years their output was very meager compared to both The Gramophone Co. Ltd., and The Veil-o-phone Co., Ltd., which had also virtually come to a standstill. By 1919 The Gramophone Co., Ltd., was the only active disc record manufacturer in India and virtually controlled the market. During the 1920's The Gramophone Co., Ltd., continued to record hundreds of titles in various parts of India along with an extensive program of recording across the whole of Asia from Burma to China. In 1925, the ZONOPHONE RECORD was dropped and replaced by a green labeled HIS MASTER'S VOICE series.
In 1928, The Gramophone Co., Ltd., introduced the TWIN record label -partly to exploit their past catalogue of recordings and also to saturate the market due to impending threats of the Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd., and it's associated company, Carl Lindström, A.G. and the ODEON record being marketed in India. There was also a renewed attempt by Valabhdas Runchordas to rejuvenate The Viel-o-phone Co., Ltd., - again with financial and technical support from Edison Bell, Ltd., London, which re-introduced the VIEL-O-PHONE label manufactured by the refurbished Mahim factory.
The manufacturing capacity of The Gramophone Co., Ltd., factory at Sealdah, Calcutta, had reached such dimensions that the plant was being operated twenty four hours a day in several shifts by 1926, and with this pressure it was decided to seek an alternative sight and erect a new and larger factory to cater for The Gramophone Co., Ltd., requirements for the Indian and Asian markets. The new factory of The Gramophone Co., Ltd., was built at Dum Dum, some nine miles from central Calcutta, and commenced pressing in mid-1928.
By 1929 The Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd., were actively recording in Ceylon, and soon commenced recording in Burma India and the Dutch East Indies. Carl Lindström, A.G. had also resumed recording sessions in Ceylon, Burma, and South India. At this point in time both the COLUMBIA and ODEON record labels were operated in competition with each other - and The Gramophone Co., Ltd., whose HIS MASTER'S VOICE and TWIN labels issued records - sometimes with identical coupling to those of it's competitors.
Not having their own disc record factory in India, the COLUMBIA and ODEON labels were manufactured in London and Berlin respectively for the market in India and surrounding areas. Part of the strategy of the Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd., and Carl Lindström, A.G., extending their activities into Asia, was due to strong competition from the Polyphon Musikwerke, A.G., of Berlin, who produced recordings of Chinese and Malay repertoires on the PAGODA and HINDENBURG labels for local distributors.
In 1930, Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd., London, took over the Pathé Orient factory in Shanghai, China, hoping to develop this as a base for the South Asian market and take away some of the market share that The Gramophone Co., Ltd., had dominated for several years - sharing some of the territory with the Victor Talking Machine Co., Camden, USA. an associate company. The Shanghai factory operated as the China Record Company. Ltd., as manufacturers, and Pathé Orient, Ltd., as distributors, pressing BEKA, ODEON and PATHÉ (vertical cut) discs for the Chinese and Asian market.
In April 1931, Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd., which included control of Carl Lindström, A.G. Berlin, [ODEON]; Compagnie Générale des Machines Parlantes, Pathé Frères, Paris, along with Pathé Orient; and The Nipponophone Co., Japan - representing COLUMBIA in that country - merged with The Gramophone Co., Ltd., worldwide. This merger formed Electric and Musical Industries, Ltd., (EMI, Ltd) into the largest sound recording company in the world, a corporate body representing not only it's major amalgamated companies but also dozens of subsidiary concerns, agents and distributors internationally.
Despite the merger of 'Columbia' - 'Gramophone' - 'Odeon' and 'Pathé' interests and the control of these companies in India and Asia being under the 'one roof' the recording sessions operated by the various companies was expanded to such a level that each division of EMI, Ltd., was often questioning the activities of the other in both India and Asia.
The productivity of the recording engineers in these regions was somewhere in the region of 200 hundred recordings per two month period, with the effect that the HIS MASTER'S VOICE, TWIN, COLUMBIA and ODEON catalogues showed a rapid increase in releases.
Although financially controlled by Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd., London, the Carl Lindström, A.G. of Berlin, had been independently established in India in 1929, through distributing agents, and in the early 1930’s, reorganized its activities in India by appointing the Ruby Record Co., of Bombay, and Saraswathi Stores, Madras, to handle their ODEON label, for which the manufacturing of discs shifted from Berlin to The Gramophone Co., Ltd., factory at Dum Dum.
At the same time that this process was going on The Gramophone Co., Ltd., in India introduced a scheme of promoting what they termed 'private recorders' which meant that private companies were encouraged to access the recordings made by The Gramophone Co., Ltd., under contract, and have these recordings issued under their own labels, as if in competition to HIS MASTER'S VOICE, COLUMBIA, and ODEON.
The most important of these 'private recorders' were: The Megaphone Co., with the MEGAPHONE RECORD; the Hindusthan Musical Products, and Varieties Syndicate, with the - HINDUSTHAN RECORD and the NEW THEATRES RECORD; Senola Musical Products, with the SENOLA RECORD; all based in Calcutta, and The Talking Picture Record Company, originally established in Rangoon, Burma, but soon moved to Calcutta, with the SHAHENSHAHI RECORD, and DILRUBA RECORD. There was also Hutchin's & Co., Madras, - HUTCHIN'S RECORD; who took their own recordings and Janki Nath Kumar & Bros., Lahore, - JIEN-O-PHONE RECORD.
Within the space of a few years there were no less that forty 'private recorders' with their own labels being manufactured - under contract - by The Gramophone Co., Ltd., Dum Dum. apart from their own issues on HIS MASTER'S VOICE, TWIN, COLUMBIA and ODEON. Some of these 'private recorders' only managed a couple of batches of releases, before exiting the market, while others such as The Marwari Record Co., Jodhpur, and The Maxitone Record Co, Ltd., of Cawnpore, built up extensive catalogues of 'regional' repertoires.
During the early 1930's the 'talkies' had reached India and created a demand for songs on record which was to change the function of the sound recording industry in India, to the extent that the previously dominant classical and light music became virtually redundant within a couple of years amounting to just a few percentage of the company's output. The songs from the films were what the buying public wanted on discs, and although the Dum Dum factory was working to capacity, the era was one of the most productive in the company's history.
While The Gramophone Co., Ltd., enjoyed the success of it's productivity resulting from the songs issued from the films of the rapidly expanding motion picture industry, the Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd., - COLUMBIA RECORD, and Carl Lindstrom, AG. - ODEON - aggressively recorded in the areas of classical and regional music.
Following the example of the ODEON label, The Musical Products, Limited, Madras was formed in 1934 with financial backing on a large jewellery firm to record and promote the BROADCAST record in India. Offering large sums of money The Musical Products, Ltd. managed to lure some of the finest talents in India to it's label, with the disc records were being manufactured by The Crystalate Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Tonbridge, in England, but within a few years the BROADCAST label too failed to achieve profitability and closed.
The revitalization of the sound recording industry and particularly the success of the new popular medium of 'film songs' did of course not go un-noticed. In 1935, a promoter by the name of Dulerai Pandya found considerable financial backing to form The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., with offices in Bombay and a factory at Wadala in the northern suburbs of Bombay.
The rise of The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., and it's label - YOUNG INDIA, was the most serious attempt to break the monopoly that The Gramophone Co., Ltd., had held for several decades, and it went far in signing up the Prabhat film company to it's contract, along with engaging in a number of 'private recorders' - as had The Gramophone Co., Ltd., to extend it's market share of products.
Thus the situation in India had changed from the sound recording industry being based in just two active labels in 1927 to over one hundred a decade later. Apart from the 'Gramophone' and 'National' manufacturing plants, a small firm by the name of Samudophone Co., set up in the Punjab attempting to break into the sound recording industry but failed to make any impression and soon folded. Also in the Punjab, at Chehharta, a small factory was set up by H.R. Singh & Co., but failed to go into production, and some years later the land and plant were bought by The Gramophone Co., Ltd., as an auxiliary factory.
Over in Shanghai the operations of the China Record Co., Ltd., and Pathé Orient, Ltd., had slowly eaten into the market that had formerly been the province of The Gramophone Co., Ltd. in Hong Kong, particularly as far as the Chinese and South East Asian repertoire were concerned. In 1934 the Shanghai businesses were renamed Electric and Musical Industries (China) Ltd., and continued to be run as a profitable concern for that region through to 1939. Although there was a certain degree of overlapping of supplies, The Gramophone Co., Ltd., remained dominant in Singapore and the Malay States, producing extensive catalogues of Chinese and Malay recordings which were issued on the CHAP SINGA (Lion) and CHAP KUTCHING (Cat) labels for local distributors, alongside their own 'house' brands.
The onset of World War Two found The Gramophone Co., Ltd., in all sorts of difficulties and disruption to it's recording and disc pressing program which had been expanding on a very profitable basis. During the war years the Dum Dum factory had turned over much of its resources to providing items for the Government of India, and found several of it's key personnel on War Service.
While the war continued The Gramophone Co., Ltd., had considered that it would be opportune to establish an auxiliary factory in case the Dum Dum factory became inoperative, and thus the small plant of H.R. Singh & Co., at Chehharta, near Amritsar was purchased, and after some teething problems went into production in 1943.
The effect of the war on the sound recording industry in India was direct in that it forced the closure of Carl Lindstrom, AG's interests in India with the ODEON repertoire being transferred to the COLUMBIA label. The slump in sales during the war years also had a dramatic effect on The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., which had risen to being a strong competitor to The Gramophone Co., Ltd.
The 'National's, major resource had been the Prabhat Film Company, Poona, which had provided The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., with a large number of strong selling 'film songs' - but had shifted it's allegiance to The Gramophone Co., Ltd., in about 1943. Thereafter The National Gramophone Co., Ltd., was highly reliant upon 'custom pressing work particularly from The Bombay Record Co., Bombay and other 'private recorders' - some of whom also had contracts with The Gramophone Co., Ltd., for pressing work - under different labels. The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., also took on pressing work of 'Persian' repertoires on for Iranian clients, represented in Bombay by The United Iranian Co., with discs pressed under the YOUNG IRAN and NAYA-YE-IRAN labels.
By 1946 it was evident that India would become independent of the British Empire and that the country would be divided into India, West and East Pakistan. As the political maneuvering unfolded The Gramophone Co., Ltd., purchased the business of Janki Nath Kumar & Bros., Lahore, which had been highly successful, and also relinquished it's offices in both Karachi and Lahore. The Gramophone Co., Ltd., also acquired the repertoires of The Frontier Trading Co., with the BANGA-PHONE RECORD, and the Bajaj & Co., with the GULSHAN record, whose businesses were located at Peshawar, in the North West Frontier Provinces.
The changed economic and political climate also caused The Gramophone Co., Ltd., to restructure it's corporate interests in India into The Gramophone Co (India) Ltd., as an Indian company and also to close most of the 'private recorder' programs that it had been operating since the early 1930's. While India was going through the motions of establishing it's independence, the factory in Shanghai, which had been in the hands of the Japanese during the war years, had become somewhat dormant although not closed with the result that a certain amount of the manufacturing done by the Shanghai factory was returned to Dum Dum for servicing in the Asian region.
After a couple of years absence from Pakistan territories The Gramophone Co., Ltd., re-opened offices in Karachi and Dacca in 1950, but over the next three years was obliged to re-construct it's operations in both East and West Pakistan into the formation of The Gramophone Company of Pakistan, Ltd., jointly organized by EMI, Ltd., London and Pakistani share-holders, eventually becoming EMI (Pakistan) Ltd.
During 1954, the Dum Dum factory was forced to close for several months due to disputes over worker conditions, and had to have some of it's discs pressed by another company. Although The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Bombay, was nominated to undertake the pressing work on behalf of The Gramophone Co., Ltd., its disc pressing factory at Wadala had become un-functional, and was in drastic need of an overhaul. Doubtless The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., might have been glad to have the business as it had been gradually sliding into failure, and indeed survived only a couple of more years, eventually closing it's offices and factory in 1956.
The Gramophone Co., Ltd., turned to The Plastic and Industrial Corporation, Bombay, who had a small factory at Worli, which produced 'plastic' records in limited quantities. For a short time the discs issued by The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd., were pressed by the 'Plastic' factory at Worli, which also produced the BULBUL label for Music Masters Ltd., Bombay.
The Plastic and Industrial Corporation, Bombay, holds the distinction of being the first company in India to manufacture micro-groove recordings in the long-play format, however, due to technical problems, the manufacture of vinyl and long-play discs did not last long and the company gave up its involvement with pressing disc records. During the phase of The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd labor dispute, the Dum Dum factory was re-fitted to produce micro-groove discs.
The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd., tended to rationalize its assets and resources during the 1950's with the winding down of the 'Columbia' branch of it's operation and also in curtailing the number of 'private recorders' that it supplied pressings for. The decade also brought in new technology by the introduction of the Long Play (33-1/3rpm), Single Play and Extended Play discs (45rpm), although the 78-rpm disc remained in production up until 1970.
The total number of 78 rpm discs recorded and issued by The Gramophone Co., Ltd., in India is estimated to be in the region of some 500,000 titles to which might be added some 30,000 recordings by the various competitor companies that had been operating in India over the past sixty odd years.
During the late 1960's The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd. was challenged in the market for Indian repertoire by the formation of Polydor India, Ltd., who had a disc pressing plant at Kandivlee, north of Bombay. Thus developed a market struggle between the 'Gramophone' and 'Polydor' companies in India for the rights to songs from the films being produced by numerous motion picture producers in India. In recent years Polydor India, Ltd., has been reformed into Music India, Ltd., and remains a vital force in the sound recording industry in India.
Hindusthan Musical Products, Ltd., who had since 1933, been recording their own repertoire along with resources of The Gramophone Co., Ltd., formed The Indian Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., in 1977 with a disc record factory at Taratalla Industrial Area, Calcutta, and pressed their own HINDUSTHAN RECORD and INRECO discs - that had previously been manufactured by The Gramophone Co., Ltd., at Dum Dum.
Perhaps the most significant development of the 1970's was the introduction of the cassette, which had found most companies in India fettered by Government regulation in regard to the importation of machinery and tariff restrictions. While the matter were being sorted out 'pirate' cassette concerns in Singapore and Thailand were saturating the Indian and Asian market for sound recordings with 'illegal' copies of much of The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd repertoire.
Although the importation of 'pirate' cassettes was basically brought to a halt as far as India was concerned, the public demand for product of both old and new recordings was such that several cassette manufacturing concerns came into the market in India, again often producing 'illegal' copies of The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd, repertoire, or versions of the same film songs and 'hits' that The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd., and Music India, Ltd., had paid high royalty rates for access to.
Amongst the dozens of new cassette manufacturing companies, most of whom were engaged in quite legitimate marketing of there own products, there were a number of operators who had quite blatantly sought to damage The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd dominance of the market by marketing pirate copies of their product, and very nearly succeeded in forcing closure of the once almighty company.
The 1990's have witnessed the rise of new sound recording companies such as MagnaSound (India), Ltd., Bombay; The Master Recording Co., Ltd., Madras; Concord, Ltd., Calcutta; CBS Gramophone Records and Tapes. Ltd., Bombay; Super Cassettes Industries, Ltd., Delhi, Music Today, Ltd., Delhi; The Venus Record Co. Ltd., and many others, all vying for their market share in the Indian sound recording industry.
The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd. {now known as Saregama, Ltd.}has without doubt lost much of the market to these numerous other sound recording companies, but it is still recognized as the market leader in India. It is estimated that during the 1990's there have been well over one hundred companies set up to produce, manufacture and market cassettes in particular.
The international demand for Indian music has also led to a number of companies being formed in Europe, the United States of America, and other places, who have engaged upon their own recording programs, with such companies as Chhanda Dhara, Germany; Natraj Music, Germany: Audiorec, Ltd., England; Navras Records, England; Nimbus Records, England; Ali Akbar College of Music, (AACM), Raga Records, New York; India Archive Music, New York; Moment Records, Oriental Records, New York, and several others producing fine recordings aimed primarily at the growth in popularity of the compact disc.
Internationally the new medium for sound recordings - the compact disc -has totally revitalized the world market, but at present the cassette remains the popular medium in India, and it has yet to be seen how the various sound recording companies in India will adapt to the compact disc and other technological improvements.
Reflecting upon some ninety years of sound recording in India, it is sad to see that the preservation of old recordings, has been very badly neglected, particularly in regard to the 'non-film' repertoire, perhaps the newer generations will take a more vital interest in the incredible wealth of musical heritage and culture that has been preserved on the old discs.
Excellent research material. The last para is quite poignant and demands attention of all vintage music lovers.
Pradeep
Michael Kinnear
The 'talking machine' must be one of the most productive inventions of the modern age - for it has not only given a great number of people around the world a great amount of pleasure in the listening to either cylinder recordings in the early days and later disc records, but has also provided a substantial number of people with a means of employment and endeavor in various aspects of the industry that 'sound recording' has provided.
India has been no exception to the phenomenal popularity of the sound recordings and has in fact been at the forefront of both technological changes and cultural changes as represented in sound recordings. During the 1890's a handful of traders, in Bombay and Calcutta, had taken on the phonograph as a side line to their other merchandise, and by the early 1900's some of these traders were offering 'private' cylinder recordings - by eminent singers and songstresses - as an inducement to potential purchasers of whatever models of phonograph that were on sale.
These recording were not commercially produced, but made on blanks supplied by the traders. Amongst these traders was an importer named Valabhdas Runchordas, of Bombay, who imported phonograph machines and blank cylinders, and became one of the first wholesalers of Edison, Columbia, and Pathé products.
As far as is known the foundation of an indigenous sound recording industry in India begins with Hemendra Mohan Bose, who began to take cylinder recordings of some of his friends in Calcutta during 1900 or sometime soon afterwards. Before long H. Bose, in business as a perfumer, and with an interest in photograph and printing.
To begin with these recordings were not considered for the general public, and were taken by H. Bose simply to preserve the voices and sounds of his friends for private use. Within a couple of years H. Bose came to be known as the 'first Indian talking machine man' and transformed his private interest in sound recordings into a commercial venture - which were marketed in the name of H. Bose's Records (cylinders).
While H. Bose had been active in a private capacity, The Gramophone Company, Ltd, London, whose establishment in England dates back to 1898, and who by 1901, had been reformed in the name of The Gramophone and Typewriter, Ltd., and had set up a branch office in Calcutta. The Gramophone Company, had recorded some forty tiles of Indian repertoire in London during early 1899, which were issued as 'E. Berliner's Gramophone' records, however, these recordings were most likely of little more than curiosity value.
The establishment of a branch office in India was soon followed by the arrival of Frederick William Gaisberg in Calcutta in November 1902 along with young George Dillnutt - to take recordings for The Gramophone & Typewriter, Ltd., as part of a Far Eastern recording expedition. Fred Gaisberg took some 550 recordings in Calcutta during November and December 1902, the commercially issued discs of which had reached the market in India by mid-1903. These early disc records were manufactured in Hanover, Germany, a practice that continued up until 1908, when The Gramophone Co., Ltd., established it's own disc record manufacturing plant at Sealdah, an inner suburb of Calcutta.
As the public demand for sound recordings and talking machines grew - so did the providers. The most notable of the agents and wholesalers was Valabhdas Runchordas, who traded in COLUMBIA, EDISON and PATHÉ products from December 1902. Valabhdas Runchordas was to remain prominent in the sound recording industry for several decades and might have dominated the industry in India were it not for the dominance of The Gramophone Co., Ltd., who by sheer marketing force and extensive financial commitment -succeeded in dominating the industry in India.
The Gramophone & Typewriter, Ltd., engaged upon other recording expeditions in India during 1904-05, led by William Sinkler Darby, assisted by Max Hampe, 1906-07, led by William Conrad Gaisberg, assisted by George Dillnutt, and again in 1908, led by George Dillnutt who was assisted in the early part of the expedition by Fred Gaisberg.
While this activity had been going on Nicole Frères, Ltd., London, had also undertaken a recording tour of India beginning in Calcutta during 1904 under the 'recording expert' Stephen Carl Porter. The issue of these recordings appeared in India as brown, celluloid-coated cardboard discs during 1905 as the NICOLE RECORD. At this stage both The Gramophone & Typewriter, Ltd., and Nicole Frères, Ltd.,in India were dependent upon disc record pressing facilities in Europe for supplies to India.
In late 1905 there were rumors and reports of disc records being both recorded and manufactured in Bombay, and it seems that The James Manufacturing Coy. Bombay joined forces with a cycle trader named Rustomji Dorabji and had engaged a German recording expert to take the recordings - which were then manufactured on three hand presses in a rented room in Bombay by a business trading in the name of The Wellington Cycle Co., who marketed the discs through the Singer Phono and Record Agency as the SINGER RECORD, and also the JAMES OPERA RECORD through The James Manufacturing Coy..
During late 1905, Heinrich Bumb and Wilhelm Hadert took recordings for the Beka Record, G.m.b.H., Berlin, in both Bombay and Calcutta on behalf of Valabhdas Runchordas & Co.,, which were issued soon afterwards as BEKA RECORD (8") and BEKA GRAND RECORD (10") in 1906. To distribute the Beka products, Valabhdas Runchordas organized The Talking Machine and Indian Record Co., with offices in Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi and Madras.
During 1907, the Lyrophon-werke, Adolf Lieban & Co., of Hanover helped T. S. Ramchunder and Bros., Bombay, to place their RAM-0-PHONE DISC RECORD (later changed to RAMA-GRAPH DISC RECORD) on the market, and the International Talking Machine Co.m.b.H. Berlin engaged an agent in India , who traded as The Talking Machine Co. of India, based in Calcutta, to assist in organizing a recording expedition in India - which soon afterwards were issued as the ODEON RECORD.
Apart from the JAMES OPERA RECORD and SINGER RECORD - all of the other makes were being pressed in Europe. In the meantime H. Bose had succeeded in recording and marketing cylinder records in Calcutta - with the assistance of Pathé Frères, Paris - and issued as H. BOSE'S RECORD's (cylinders).
Soon after H. Bose entered the indigenous sound recording industry a couple of other firms by the names of Mukherjee & Mukharji of Calcutta - who marketed the ROYAL RECORD and The Binapani Record Co. marketed the BINAPANI DISC RECORD. Both if these firms had a relatively short life-span as producers of sound recordings, but the competition offered by these firms had been a major factor which had compelled The Gramophone & Typewriter, Ltd., to establish it's own factory in Calcutta by 1908, which gave the advantage of local manufacture, while all of the other major brands of disc records continued to be reliant upon their manufacturing facilities in Europe.
By 1908, H. Bose had conceded to technological problems and placed the transfer of his cylinder records to disc through Pathé Frères, Paris who reissued his cylinder recordings on disc manufactured at their factory at Forest, Belgium. Shortly afterwards, Pathé Phono Cinema Chine took over the Indian repertoire, including the H. Bose recordings, and organised further recording sessions in India, along with establishing branch offices in Calcutta and Bombay.
Between 1908 and 1912, The Gramophone Co., Ltd., went from strength to strength in the marketing of not only Indian repertoire but also in providing disc records for the whole Asian region. By 1912 most of the competitive makes had vanished from the market in India - with only the SUN DISC RECORD, marketed by F.B. Thanewala & Co., and the SINGER RECORD -marketed by The Singer Phono & General Agency, both manufactured in Germany or England, appearing on the market in India.
The BEKA GRAND RECORD and the ODEON RECORD had achieved some success in India but the PATHÉ (disque) despite retaining H. Bose as their agent had failed to match the might of The Gramophone Co, Ltd. In 1912, a ban on German manufactured goods being imported into India, curtailed the supply of Beka and Odeon products.
To off-set any competition by 1910 The Gramophone Co., Ltd., had introduced the ZONOPHONE RECORD - as a cheap-priced rival to the SUN DISC RECORD, The ZONOPHONE RECORD at times imitated the exact couplings being marketed by BEKA GRAND RECORD, RAMA-GRAPH DISC RECORD, and the ODEON RECORD, amongst other makes. The introduction of the ZONOPHONE RECORD again displayed The Gramophone Co., Ltd's ability to control the market in India.
By 1914, Valabhdas Lakhmidas & Co., (successors to Valabhdas Runchordas & Co.,) had remained the major competitor to The Gramophone Co., Ltd., to the extent that the company acquired machinery from German and Japanese sources and established The Viel-o-phone Co., Ltd., which succeeded for a short time in manufacturing discs from their small factory at Matunga, Bombay, with some assistance from J. E. Hough, Ltd., London. Valabhdas Runchordas also travelled to Germany hoping to acquire the master discs of his 'Beka Record' and 'Odeon Record' repertoires, however he only succeeded in acquiring the masters of the master discs of the SINGER RECORD - which were later reissued under the brand name of PHON-O-PHONE.
1916 saw the 'official' introduction of HIS MASTER'S VOICE record label to India - by which time The Gramophone Co. Ltd., had only The Viel-o-phone Co., Ltd., in Bombay to consider as a rival – as all the other European manufactured brands had vanished from the market - except the RAMA-GRAPH DISC RECORD of T. S. Ramchunder & Bros., Bombay, which continued to be manufactured in Germany by Carl Lindström, A.G. or one of its subsidiary pressing plants.
The World War between 1914-18 and reduced the sound recording industry in India to just two major operators: The Gramophone Co., Ltd., who had virtually created a monopoly to itself with just two labels - HIS MASTER'S VOICE and the ZONOPHONE RECORD, and Valabhdas Runchordas & Co., operating The Viel-o-phone Co., Ltd., with little more than reissues of the SINGER RECORD on PHON-0-PHONE RECORD and a very small repertoire of VIEL-O-PHONE RECORD issues, along with a few pressings from the English "WINNER" label of Edison Bell, Ltd., from the factory at Bombay.
Although The Pathephone Co., of Bombay, and T. S. Ramchunder & Bros., had remained active during the war years their output was very meager compared to both The Gramophone Co. Ltd., and The Veil-o-phone Co., Ltd., which had also virtually come to a standstill. By 1919 The Gramophone Co., Ltd., was the only active disc record manufacturer in India and virtually controlled the market. During the 1920's The Gramophone Co., Ltd., continued to record hundreds of titles in various parts of India along with an extensive program of recording across the whole of Asia from Burma to China. In 1925, the ZONOPHONE RECORD was dropped and replaced by a green labeled HIS MASTER'S VOICE series.
In 1928, The Gramophone Co., Ltd., introduced the TWIN record label -partly to exploit their past catalogue of recordings and also to saturate the market due to impending threats of the Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd., and it's associated company, Carl Lindström, A.G. and the ODEON record being marketed in India. There was also a renewed attempt by Valabhdas Runchordas to rejuvenate The Viel-o-phone Co., Ltd., - again with financial and technical support from Edison Bell, Ltd., London, which re-introduced the VIEL-O-PHONE label manufactured by the refurbished Mahim factory.
The manufacturing capacity of The Gramophone Co., Ltd., factory at Sealdah, Calcutta, had reached such dimensions that the plant was being operated twenty four hours a day in several shifts by 1926, and with this pressure it was decided to seek an alternative sight and erect a new and larger factory to cater for The Gramophone Co., Ltd., requirements for the Indian and Asian markets. The new factory of The Gramophone Co., Ltd., was built at Dum Dum, some nine miles from central Calcutta, and commenced pressing in mid-1928.
By 1929 The Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd., were actively recording in Ceylon, and soon commenced recording in Burma India and the Dutch East Indies. Carl Lindström, A.G. had also resumed recording sessions in Ceylon, Burma, and South India. At this point in time both the COLUMBIA and ODEON record labels were operated in competition with each other - and The Gramophone Co., Ltd., whose HIS MASTER'S VOICE and TWIN labels issued records - sometimes with identical coupling to those of it's competitors.
Not having their own disc record factory in India, the COLUMBIA and ODEON labels were manufactured in London and Berlin respectively for the market in India and surrounding areas. Part of the strategy of the Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd., and Carl Lindström, A.G., extending their activities into Asia, was due to strong competition from the Polyphon Musikwerke, A.G., of Berlin, who produced recordings of Chinese and Malay repertoires on the PAGODA and HINDENBURG labels for local distributors.
In 1930, Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd., London, took over the Pathé Orient factory in Shanghai, China, hoping to develop this as a base for the South Asian market and take away some of the market share that The Gramophone Co., Ltd., had dominated for several years - sharing some of the territory with the Victor Talking Machine Co., Camden, USA. an associate company. The Shanghai factory operated as the China Record Company. Ltd., as manufacturers, and Pathé Orient, Ltd., as distributors, pressing BEKA, ODEON and PATHÉ (vertical cut) discs for the Chinese and Asian market.
In April 1931, Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd., which included control of Carl Lindström, A.G. Berlin, [ODEON]; Compagnie Générale des Machines Parlantes, Pathé Frères, Paris, along with Pathé Orient; and The Nipponophone Co., Japan - representing COLUMBIA in that country - merged with The Gramophone Co., Ltd., worldwide. This merger formed Electric and Musical Industries, Ltd., (EMI, Ltd) into the largest sound recording company in the world, a corporate body representing not only it's major amalgamated companies but also dozens of subsidiary concerns, agents and distributors internationally.
Despite the merger of 'Columbia' - 'Gramophone' - 'Odeon' and 'Pathé' interests and the control of these companies in India and Asia being under the 'one roof' the recording sessions operated by the various companies was expanded to such a level that each division of EMI, Ltd., was often questioning the activities of the other in both India and Asia.
The productivity of the recording engineers in these regions was somewhere in the region of 200 hundred recordings per two month period, with the effect that the HIS MASTER'S VOICE, TWIN, COLUMBIA and ODEON catalogues showed a rapid increase in releases.
Although financially controlled by Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd., London, the Carl Lindström, A.G. of Berlin, had been independently established in India in 1929, through distributing agents, and in the early 1930’s, reorganized its activities in India by appointing the Ruby Record Co., of Bombay, and Saraswathi Stores, Madras, to handle their ODEON label, for which the manufacturing of discs shifted from Berlin to The Gramophone Co., Ltd., factory at Dum Dum.
At the same time that this process was going on The Gramophone Co., Ltd., in India introduced a scheme of promoting what they termed 'private recorders' which meant that private companies were encouraged to access the recordings made by The Gramophone Co., Ltd., under contract, and have these recordings issued under their own labels, as if in competition to HIS MASTER'S VOICE, COLUMBIA, and ODEON.
The most important of these 'private recorders' were: The Megaphone Co., with the MEGAPHONE RECORD; the Hindusthan Musical Products, and Varieties Syndicate, with the - HINDUSTHAN RECORD and the NEW THEATRES RECORD; Senola Musical Products, with the SENOLA RECORD; all based in Calcutta, and The Talking Picture Record Company, originally established in Rangoon, Burma, but soon moved to Calcutta, with the SHAHENSHAHI RECORD, and DILRUBA RECORD. There was also Hutchin's & Co., Madras, - HUTCHIN'S RECORD; who took their own recordings and Janki Nath Kumar & Bros., Lahore, - JIEN-O-PHONE RECORD.
Within the space of a few years there were no less that forty 'private recorders' with their own labels being manufactured - under contract - by The Gramophone Co., Ltd., Dum Dum. apart from their own issues on HIS MASTER'S VOICE, TWIN, COLUMBIA and ODEON. Some of these 'private recorders' only managed a couple of batches of releases, before exiting the market, while others such as The Marwari Record Co., Jodhpur, and The Maxitone Record Co, Ltd., of Cawnpore, built up extensive catalogues of 'regional' repertoires.
During the early 1930's the 'talkies' had reached India and created a demand for songs on record which was to change the function of the sound recording industry in India, to the extent that the previously dominant classical and light music became virtually redundant within a couple of years amounting to just a few percentage of the company's output. The songs from the films were what the buying public wanted on discs, and although the Dum Dum factory was working to capacity, the era was one of the most productive in the company's history.
While The Gramophone Co., Ltd., enjoyed the success of it's productivity resulting from the songs issued from the films of the rapidly expanding motion picture industry, the Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd., - COLUMBIA RECORD, and Carl Lindstrom, AG. - ODEON - aggressively recorded in the areas of classical and regional music.
Following the example of the ODEON label, The Musical Products, Limited, Madras was formed in 1934 with financial backing on a large jewellery firm to record and promote the BROADCAST record in India. Offering large sums of money The Musical Products, Ltd. managed to lure some of the finest talents in India to it's label, with the disc records were being manufactured by The Crystalate Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Tonbridge, in England, but within a few years the BROADCAST label too failed to achieve profitability and closed.
The revitalization of the sound recording industry and particularly the success of the new popular medium of 'film songs' did of course not go un-noticed. In 1935, a promoter by the name of Dulerai Pandya found considerable financial backing to form The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., with offices in Bombay and a factory at Wadala in the northern suburbs of Bombay.
The rise of The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., and it's label - YOUNG INDIA, was the most serious attempt to break the monopoly that The Gramophone Co., Ltd., had held for several decades, and it went far in signing up the Prabhat film company to it's contract, along with engaging in a number of 'private recorders' - as had The Gramophone Co., Ltd., to extend it's market share of products.
Thus the situation in India had changed from the sound recording industry being based in just two active labels in 1927 to over one hundred a decade later. Apart from the 'Gramophone' and 'National' manufacturing plants, a small firm by the name of Samudophone Co., set up in the Punjab attempting to break into the sound recording industry but failed to make any impression and soon folded. Also in the Punjab, at Chehharta, a small factory was set up by H.R. Singh & Co., but failed to go into production, and some years later the land and plant were bought by The Gramophone Co., Ltd., as an auxiliary factory.
Over in Shanghai the operations of the China Record Co., Ltd., and Pathé Orient, Ltd., had slowly eaten into the market that had formerly been the province of The Gramophone Co., Ltd. in Hong Kong, particularly as far as the Chinese and South East Asian repertoire were concerned. In 1934 the Shanghai businesses were renamed Electric and Musical Industries (China) Ltd., and continued to be run as a profitable concern for that region through to 1939. Although there was a certain degree of overlapping of supplies, The Gramophone Co., Ltd., remained dominant in Singapore and the Malay States, producing extensive catalogues of Chinese and Malay recordings which were issued on the CHAP SINGA (Lion) and CHAP KUTCHING (Cat) labels for local distributors, alongside their own 'house' brands.
The onset of World War Two found The Gramophone Co., Ltd., in all sorts of difficulties and disruption to it's recording and disc pressing program which had been expanding on a very profitable basis. During the war years the Dum Dum factory had turned over much of its resources to providing items for the Government of India, and found several of it's key personnel on War Service.
While the war continued The Gramophone Co., Ltd., had considered that it would be opportune to establish an auxiliary factory in case the Dum Dum factory became inoperative, and thus the small plant of H.R. Singh & Co., at Chehharta, near Amritsar was purchased, and after some teething problems went into production in 1943.
The effect of the war on the sound recording industry in India was direct in that it forced the closure of Carl Lindstrom, AG's interests in India with the ODEON repertoire being transferred to the COLUMBIA label. The slump in sales during the war years also had a dramatic effect on The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., which had risen to being a strong competitor to The Gramophone Co., Ltd.
The 'National's, major resource had been the Prabhat Film Company, Poona, which had provided The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., with a large number of strong selling 'film songs' - but had shifted it's allegiance to The Gramophone Co., Ltd., in about 1943. Thereafter The National Gramophone Co., Ltd., was highly reliant upon 'custom pressing work particularly from The Bombay Record Co., Bombay and other 'private recorders' - some of whom also had contracts with The Gramophone Co., Ltd., for pressing work - under different labels. The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., also took on pressing work of 'Persian' repertoires on for Iranian clients, represented in Bombay by The United Iranian Co., with discs pressed under the YOUNG IRAN and NAYA-YE-IRAN labels.
By 1946 it was evident that India would become independent of the British Empire and that the country would be divided into India, West and East Pakistan. As the political maneuvering unfolded The Gramophone Co., Ltd., purchased the business of Janki Nath Kumar & Bros., Lahore, which had been highly successful, and also relinquished it's offices in both Karachi and Lahore. The Gramophone Co., Ltd., also acquired the repertoires of The Frontier Trading Co., with the BANGA-PHONE RECORD, and the Bajaj & Co., with the GULSHAN record, whose businesses were located at Peshawar, in the North West Frontier Provinces.
The changed economic and political climate also caused The Gramophone Co., Ltd., to restructure it's corporate interests in India into The Gramophone Co (India) Ltd., as an Indian company and also to close most of the 'private recorder' programs that it had been operating since the early 1930's. While India was going through the motions of establishing it's independence, the factory in Shanghai, which had been in the hands of the Japanese during the war years, had become somewhat dormant although not closed with the result that a certain amount of the manufacturing done by the Shanghai factory was returned to Dum Dum for servicing in the Asian region.
After a couple of years absence from Pakistan territories The Gramophone Co., Ltd., re-opened offices in Karachi and Dacca in 1950, but over the next three years was obliged to re-construct it's operations in both East and West Pakistan into the formation of The Gramophone Company of Pakistan, Ltd., jointly organized by EMI, Ltd., London and Pakistani share-holders, eventually becoming EMI (Pakistan) Ltd.
During 1954, the Dum Dum factory was forced to close for several months due to disputes over worker conditions, and had to have some of it's discs pressed by another company. Although The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Bombay, was nominated to undertake the pressing work on behalf of The Gramophone Co., Ltd., its disc pressing factory at Wadala had become un-functional, and was in drastic need of an overhaul. Doubtless The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., might have been glad to have the business as it had been gradually sliding into failure, and indeed survived only a couple of more years, eventually closing it's offices and factory in 1956.
The Gramophone Co., Ltd., turned to The Plastic and Industrial Corporation, Bombay, who had a small factory at Worli, which produced 'plastic' records in limited quantities. For a short time the discs issued by The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd., were pressed by the 'Plastic' factory at Worli, which also produced the BULBUL label for Music Masters Ltd., Bombay.
The Plastic and Industrial Corporation, Bombay, holds the distinction of being the first company in India to manufacture micro-groove recordings in the long-play format, however, due to technical problems, the manufacture of vinyl and long-play discs did not last long and the company gave up its involvement with pressing disc records. During the phase of The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd labor dispute, the Dum Dum factory was re-fitted to produce micro-groove discs.
The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd., tended to rationalize its assets and resources during the 1950's with the winding down of the 'Columbia' branch of it's operation and also in curtailing the number of 'private recorders' that it supplied pressings for. The decade also brought in new technology by the introduction of the Long Play (33-1/3rpm), Single Play and Extended Play discs (45rpm), although the 78-rpm disc remained in production up until 1970.
The total number of 78 rpm discs recorded and issued by The Gramophone Co., Ltd., in India is estimated to be in the region of some 500,000 titles to which might be added some 30,000 recordings by the various competitor companies that had been operating in India over the past sixty odd years.
During the late 1960's The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd. was challenged in the market for Indian repertoire by the formation of Polydor India, Ltd., who had a disc pressing plant at Kandivlee, north of Bombay. Thus developed a market struggle between the 'Gramophone' and 'Polydor' companies in India for the rights to songs from the films being produced by numerous motion picture producers in India. In recent years Polydor India, Ltd., has been reformed into Music India, Ltd., and remains a vital force in the sound recording industry in India.
Hindusthan Musical Products, Ltd., who had since 1933, been recording their own repertoire along with resources of The Gramophone Co., Ltd., formed The Indian Record Manufacturing Co., Ltd., in 1977 with a disc record factory at Taratalla Industrial Area, Calcutta, and pressed their own HINDUSTHAN RECORD and INRECO discs - that had previously been manufactured by The Gramophone Co., Ltd., at Dum Dum.
Perhaps the most significant development of the 1970's was the introduction of the cassette, which had found most companies in India fettered by Government regulation in regard to the importation of machinery and tariff restrictions. While the matter were being sorted out 'pirate' cassette concerns in Singapore and Thailand were saturating the Indian and Asian market for sound recordings with 'illegal' copies of much of The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd repertoire.
Although the importation of 'pirate' cassettes was basically brought to a halt as far as India was concerned, the public demand for product of both old and new recordings was such that several cassette manufacturing concerns came into the market in India, again often producing 'illegal' copies of The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd, repertoire, or versions of the same film songs and 'hits' that The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd., and Music India, Ltd., had paid high royalty rates for access to.
Amongst the dozens of new cassette manufacturing companies, most of whom were engaged in quite legitimate marketing of there own products, there were a number of operators who had quite blatantly sought to damage The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd dominance of the market by marketing pirate copies of their product, and very nearly succeeded in forcing closure of the once almighty company.
The 1990's have witnessed the rise of new sound recording companies such as MagnaSound (India), Ltd., Bombay; The Master Recording Co., Ltd., Madras; Concord, Ltd., Calcutta; CBS Gramophone Records and Tapes. Ltd., Bombay; Super Cassettes Industries, Ltd., Delhi, Music Today, Ltd., Delhi; The Venus Record Co. Ltd., and many others, all vying for their market share in the Indian sound recording industry.
The Gramophone Company of India, Ltd. {now known as Saregama, Ltd.}has without doubt lost much of the market to these numerous other sound recording companies, but it is still recognized as the market leader in India. It is estimated that during the 1990's there have been well over one hundred companies set up to produce, manufacture and market cassettes in particular.
The international demand for Indian music has also led to a number of companies being formed in Europe, the United States of America, and other places, who have engaged upon their own recording programs, with such companies as Chhanda Dhara, Germany; Natraj Music, Germany: Audiorec, Ltd., England; Navras Records, England; Nimbus Records, England; Ali Akbar College of Music, (AACM), Raga Records, New York; India Archive Music, New York; Moment Records, Oriental Records, New York, and several others producing fine recordings aimed primarily at the growth in popularity of the compact disc.
Internationally the new medium for sound recordings - the compact disc -has totally revitalized the world market, but at present the cassette remains the popular medium in India, and it has yet to be seen how the various sound recording companies in India will adapt to the compact disc and other technological improvements.
Reflecting upon some ninety years of sound recording in India, it is sad to see that the preservation of old recordings, has been very badly neglected, particularly in regard to the 'non-film' repertoire, perhaps the newer generations will take a more vital interest in the incredible wealth of musical heritage and culture that has been preserved on the old discs.
Excellent research material. The last para is quite poignant and demands attention of all vintage music lovers.
Pradeep
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.