New Pathé Records - A pioneering in the early recording of sound

Pathé Records is a notable landmark in the history of recorded music, and an especially innovative member of its phonograph'ing family. Pathé Records was a pioneering record label founded by the French company Pathé Frères in the early 1900s that played a crucial role in transforming the music industry.

Internationalizing and First Recordings

Pathé Records began recording out of France at the turn of the 20th century, covering dozens of territories including Spain, Scandinavia, Argentina and India. This global extent enabled Pathé to attract diverse spoiling styles, thus further establishing itself as a global player. Due to its dedication to high-quality releases and recordings, the label quickly became one of the most important forces in early sound recording.

The Art of Dub: Recording & Master Cylinders

One of the key innovations that Pathé introduced was a method for producing master recordings using these massive quickly-looping wax cylinders. On the other hand, these big master cylinders were used almost exclusively in Pathé's recording studios, and were therefore claimed to capture a greater quality of sound than what was available on the market at that time. In contrast to most other companies, in the case of Pathé it was often that the master recording had been made on a different medium to that which would be used for final commercial product. Those master cylinders were dubbed onto commercial Pathé cylinders and discs, making it possible to reproduce the same high-fidelity recording in several formats.

Despite being amazing, this innovation has its drawbacks too. The final commercial records produced using the acoustical-mechanical dubbing process created an uneven standard of audio quality. This method led to obvious defects in many recordings — a characteristic rumble, or other artifacts, were typical defects of Pathé's mass-market recordings. Nevertheless, due to these problems, Pathé hit on a way that got their recordings out wide and allowed for virtually any of its music available in various formats.

DECODING THE AMERICAN CHALLENGE

During the 1910s, Pathé promoted multiple add-ons intended for phonographs produced by third-parties that would allow their records to play on non-Pathé devices. All these efforts, however, could only bring them limited success on the lucrative American market. Pathé's competition came from American interests that were well-established when Pathé records first appeared, and their innovative recording practices—specifically the vertical cut groove of their discs—made them incompatible with the more widely adopted systems in America.

Introducing the Outside Groove Disc

The big innovation happened in 1915 when Pathé finally released discs that had the start of recording positioned at the outside edge of the groove. This unique aspect separated Pathé from other record makers, who generally located the groove on the disc's inside. In addition to being innovative in how it was made, this new design also helped enhance the sound of the recordings, providing a unique listening experience for audiophiles and music lovers alike.

The Change to Needle-Cut Discs Pathé Actuelle

In 1920, Pathépivoted with the introduction of needle-cut records that made the label a major player in the market. This line of discs, intended for play on the standard 78 rpm phonograph and aimed primarily at the U.S. market as Pathé Actuelle Needle-cut records were more successful than the previous style of vertical-cut discs, particularly in America. Due to their interoperability with the contemporary phonograph equipment, they quickly found a wider audience than Pathé records did and within a few years needle cut Pathé discs were outselling vertical Pathé records in many areas, even Europe.

Switching to these more conventional needle-cut records allowed Pathé to consolidate their status in the international marketplace, then later compete for supremacy with other dominant labels of the 78 rpm age.