STERN-PLATTE
Founded 1905 as “Schallplattenfabrik “Star-Record”, Ernst Hesse & Co., Berlin SO. 26, Elisabeth-Ufer 52″.
Active until WW I.
Also known as “Star – Record” with identically Labeldesign.
Source: Discogs
STEIN-REKORD
Stein-Rekord was founded by Oscar Stein.
His business was situated in Wittenberg, Markt 5. This building also has a long history as it was owned by the world famous Renaissance painter Lucas Cranach.
Around 1908 several press factories in Germany started to produce records with anonymous labels, which retailers could use to put their own labels on for promotional purposes.
Favorite Record
In 1904, the engineer Otto Multhaupt (born 5 February 1871) and the Berlin manufacturer Fritz Kindermann founded the Favorite GmbH in Linden (Hanover).
In 1912, the company was converted into Favorite Record AG and taken over by Carl Lindström’s group the following year.
Source: Wikipedia
More Infos: Grammophon-Platten
Polyphon
Polyphon Record was a German record label established in 1905 by Polyphonwerke A.-G. when the company started producing shellac records. Used on records for the German market until c. 1922.
Also an export label for the UK market during 1912-1914 (which became Pilot Record c.1914).
Source: Grammophon-Platten.de
Further informations on Grammophon-platten.de
LYROPHON
The use of the name Lyrophon as a trademark applied to phonographs and cylinders appears to have been first registered to the firm of Kölkow & Russ (Continental/Phonographen/Fabrik), Blücherstrasse 6, Berlin in April 1899.
The German singer Adolf Leiban had established his own business in the name of A. Lieban & Company, Freidrichsgracht 58, Berlin, by February 1901, producing phonographs and cylinders.
By November 1902, A. Lieban & Co. had produced a similar line of products with the registered trade mark of Arion-Record in March 1903. These products were supplemented by the introduction of a disc record in the name of Lyrophon single-sided recorded discs in 1904.
For some reason the Lyrophon trade mark by name was registered to one Ernesto Herrmann, Willdenowstrasse 4, Berlin, in June 1907 as applied to the manufacture of talking machines and disc records, by which time there was a substantial catalogue of Lyrophon-labelled discs on the market in Europe.
It seems that A. Lieben & Company had been re-formed in about 1906 into Lyrophon-Werke Adolf Lieban & Co., and removed at about this time to their new premises at Gitschinerstrasse 91, Berlin. From late 1906 and continuing into 1907 and some time beyond, Frank Rauth, 9 Christopher Street, Finsbury Square, London, was the British agent for Lyrophon disc records, later moving to 27-29 Worship Street, London. From about this time, Lyrophon-Werke A. Lieban & Co. began a series of Asian recording tours, including India, Burma, Siam, the Malay states, Indo-China, the Dutch East Indies and China.
By November 1912, Lyrophon-Werke Adolf Lieban & Co. had been converted into a limited liability company in the name of Lyrophon-Werke GmbH under the proprietor, Martin Schulvater, while still located at Gitschinerstrasse 91.
By 1913, Lyrophon-Werke GmbH had been absorbed into a conglomerate of companies controlled by Carl Lindstrom AG, Berlin.
Source: Collector Georg Richter / Germany
Homokord
The record label Homocord was founded in 1904 under the name Homophon by Hermann Eisner and remained active under this name until 1908. Finally, the company was defeated in a Homophon in 1907 by the company Zonophon patent litigation at the Royal District Court of Berlin and changed in August 1911 to the name of Homokord.
However, only the label name was changed; the company was still called Homophone. For the British market, the name was Homochord. Around 1924, the name was also changed to Homocord in Germany. The headquarters were in the 1920s in the Berlin Alexandrinenstraße.
Source: Wikipedia
Homophon
The record label Homophon was founded in 1904 by Hermann Eisner and remained active under this name until 1908. Finally, the company was defeated in a patent litigation in 1907 by the company Zonophon and changed in August 1911 to the name of Homokord.
Only the label name was changed – the company was still called Homophone. The headquarters were in the 1920s in the Berlin Alexandrinenstraße.
Source: Wikipedia
Favorite
In 1904 the engineer Otto Multhaupt and manufacturer Fritz Kindermann founded the Favorite GmbH in Linden (Hanover).
A branch was also founded in Vienna, Austria.
In 1912, the company was converted into Favorite Record AG and taken over by Carl Lindström’s group the following year.
Source: Wikipedia
Well-founded information about the label (German)
JOHN BULL RECORD
The John Bull record was a product of The English Record Company, formed the in autumn of 1909.
They started a new system for selling records, known as the Tally-man system. This involved sellng the records directly to the public using door-to-door agents. The client would sign a contract to buy so many records over a set period, probably about 50 in a year, for a set price of 2/6 per record.
The records were pressed in Germany by the Beka Record Company, which was taken over by Lindström in 1910.
In May 1911, the English Record Company failed, but a new company with the same name was started up almost immediately. The new company had an arrangement with Favorite Records to press their John Bull records in Linden, Germany.
In late 1911, the Favorite contract must have been cancelled as John Bull records began being pressed in England by The Disc Record Company, in Harrow, using the varied selection of masters which they held there, though there is a report that the DRC made new recordings for issue on John Bull. Some John Bulls are also reported to have been pressed by The Irolite Manufacturing Company in Hounslow. It was probably at this period finding masters from companies such as DaCapo and Bel Canto being used on John Bull records.
By 1913, there was a price war in the record industry. The company finally went out of business towards the end of 1913.
Source: Michael Thomas
Tri-Ergon
The Tri-Ergon sound-on-film system was patented from 1919 on by German inventors Josef Engl, Hans Vogt and Joseph Massolle.
The name Tri-Ergon was derived from Greek and means ‘the work of three.’ A subsidiary, Tri-Ergon Musik AG of Berlin, made commercial phonograph records for the German, French, Swedish and Danish markets from about 1928 to 1932.
Although the product was advertised as ‘Photo-Electro-Records,’ it is unknown whether the sound-on-film process was actually used in making them, perhaps for simple cutting of the record”.
