[78-L] Master Records prefix?

[David Lennick]

Since Master masters appeared on ARC labels within their regular catalog 
numbering systems, after having had a brief existence on the Master and Variety 
labels, I'd guess that it was to ensure royalties.

dl

On 7/7/2013 2:39 PM, Bryan Wright wrote:
> I've noticed that several ARC labels of the late 1930s attach a letter
> prefix to the catalogue numbers of recordings produced by Irving
> Mills's Master Records. For example, Conqueror discs of the late '30s
> normally have 4-digit catalogue numbers with no prefix or suffix (e.g.
> "9193"), but a Conqueror record derived from a Master master has a "c"
> prefix (e.g. "c9089"). I've seen this on Vocalion records too, with a
> "v" prefix. I have a few purple OKehs from Master, but they do not
> have any special letter prefix. Since the sides originating with
> Master already say something to that effect on the label, why the
> extra catalogue prefix? It seems redundant and perhaps even confusing.
> Was the prefix letter to make them stand out more in the company's own
> listings to perhaps facilitate easier royalty payments? Just curious.
>
> Bryan W.
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