Columbia Records Introduce The First Vinyl LP – Archive, 1948

For almost two years the American record market has been stimulated and also bewildered by the impact of the Long-Playing record – or LP, as it is there universally called. From across the Atlantic came echoes of the battle: company after company entering the field, new concerns springing up on all sides, wild claims and counter-claims made on behalf of each system, and self-respecting turntables asked to revolve at three different speeds – 33⅓ rpm, 45, and plain old-fashioned 78. As the confusion spread, many small dealers and record buyers retired into their shells with gestures of despair.

During this period the well-informed English collector has been able to sit back with a superior smile. Splendid! By all means let the Americans see their new invention through the awkward teething stage; neutrality, for the time being, had distinct advantages. But the period of our neutrality is almost over. Next month Decca release a first English list of some 50 LP records, together with a variety of apparatus on which to play them; and it seems likely that the Gramophone Company will soon follow suit.

First, some facts. The new Decca records have the same essential features as the American Columbia LP Microgrooves, which in July 1948, started the ball rolling. Each side of a 12-inch record plays for between 20 and 25 minutes; each side of a 10-inch record for some 16 minutes. This startling result is achieved by the use of a narrower groove and a playing speed of 33⅓ revolutions per minute. The records are made of a plastic material, lighter than shellac and almost free from needle hiss. Prices will not, at present, work out much cheaper than before: that is, one LP will cost about as much as four ordinary records of the same size and category. (Decca explain that while royalties are unaltered, material and processing are far more expensive, and the number of rejected pressings far higher).

LPs cannot be played on an acoustic instrument. But the owner of a radio-gramophone, or even a plain radio, can buy for under £10 a playing-desk and pick-up suitable for LP only; for another £5 he can buy a twin-speed motor (33⅓ and 78) and a pick-up with two easily interchangeable heads; or he can buy a “two-way” Deccalian for £37 16s, which is little more than the cost of the normal model.

The convenience of long-playing records for symphonic and chamber music, and for opera, can hardly be exaggerated.