Marconi Velvet-Tone

Biography - Marconi Velvet-Tone

USA

Promoted under the name of famed Italian radio engineer Guglielmo Marconi and produced by Columbia between 1907 and 1908, the Marconi Velvet-Tone discs, invented by Columbia engineer Thomas H. Macdonald in 1906, were semi-flexible discs made of celluloid laminated over a cardboard core. The highest catalog number seen so far is 0401. All releases were single-sided, reissued Columbia matrices, and appear to have been released in 1907.

The Marconi Velvet-Tone records are mentioned several times in The Talking Machine World between April 1907 and May 1908. The first sample reached the Columbia store of Harold Goodwin on 353 Broadway in April 1907, see TMW, April 15, 1907, page 14 and "officially" released in a 2-page ad in TMW, Sept. 15, 1907, pages 44b and 44c. In 1908, they were mentioned only once, in TMW, May 15, 1908, page 49, which shows how quickly the initial excitement faded.

Marconi Velvet Tone records cost 75 cents each (10 cents more than regular records), were much lighter than shellac records, semi-flexible, and promoted as indestructible. They were supposed to be played only with a gold-plated needle, which cost 25 cents each, lasted longer, and would be less destructive than the regular steel needles. Most importantly, the records offered a better sound because their celluloid laminate did not contain the grit each shellac record needs to shape the steel needle to the groove during the first couple of rotations.

Unfortunately, many buyers played their Marconis with the much cheaper shellac needles (60 cents for 100 steel needles), ruined their records, and had to throw them away. Thus, the format failed to become a commercial success and was discontinued by the end of 1908. Nowadays, it is recommended to play them on modern record players.

(Source: http://www.centuryoldsounds.com/Marconi.html)

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