Invention of the Microgroove Disc

This next phase came with the invention of the microgroove 33 rpm vinyl disc in the late 1940s, cheaper, less fragile and longer-playing product than the shellac 78 rpm. The twelve-inch 33 rpm disc was pioneered by CBS and a competing 45 rpm by RCA. After some initial rivalry, both formats were adopted and they revived the fortunes of the record market, leading to a period of 10–20 per cent growth which was to last until the late 1970s. Two new majors also emerged in the 1950s, shortly before the advent of rock and roll. In Europe, the Dutch group Philips created its own music subsidiary; and Warner Bros, the US film company which had bought up the Brunswick record labeling 1934, now launched Warner Bros Records. This made six international majors in all. Meanwhile a number of independent French record companies were set up after the Liberation. Most notable among them was Barclay, named after its founder Eddie Barclay, who took the risk of importing the new microgroove record. By the early 1960s, the label had signed up the biggest names in chanson and some from the burgeoning French pop scene. Also influential was Vogue, created around the same time. Together, the two labels came to dominate the French independents in the 1960s and were largely responsible for the growth of chanson and the introduction of French pop. Writers, performers and labels were greatly assisted in the 1940s and 1950sby radio – both the state radio and the three major ‘peripheral’ stations (broadcasting from just outside France) – Radio Monte-Carlo (RMC), Radio Luxembourg and, from 1955, Europe 1. Programmers devoted to popular musician one form or another, like ‘Plum plum tarlatan’ or ‘Chansons grouses, chansons roses’ (Blue Songs, Happy Songs), were abundant and allowed songs to reach a much wider audience than the music hall did. There were live music shows daily, providing work for bands and singers. Established stars like Tenet, Montana, Chevalier and Pilaf appeared regularly and newcomers like Line Read or Luis Mariano could be launched, particularly after Radio Luxembourg brought back the pre-war formula of the talent contest in 1949. Nonprogrammer, entitled ‘Le Risqué des auditors’ (Listeners’ Record Choice),also introduced the record request show, and another, ‘La Chanson eternally’(Eternal Songs), prefigured the hit parade by allowing listeners to vote for their favorite records. This was the beginning of a process that would see radio and records form a commercial synergy, as programming, on the peripheral stations particularly, became more and more dominated by record shows, as had happened in the USA in the first half of the 1950s with spectacular results: it had helped give birth to rock and roll.