Australia's recording pioneers: The industry before 1952

Australia had a record industry long before the arrival of Festival Records. From the 1890s Australians were enthusiastic buyers of imported cylinders and discs. Record manufacturing began in the mid 1920s when factories were established in Sydney and Melbourne. Less than ten years later only two companies had survived the Depression. EMI, the amalgamation of the two survivors, dominated Australian record manufacturing until the early 1950s. Following World War II, a huge demand for records promoted the rapid growth of local independent companies, including Festival Records. By the mid 1950s most of these had vanished due to fierce competition. This section looked at our early recording history.

Images left to right: Woman working in the Columbia factory, c1928, photographer unknown, Powerhouse Museum collection H5741-13/8; Winifred Atwell, courtesy ScreenSound Australia, photographer unknown; Horrie Dargie Quartet, courtesy ScreenSound Australia, photographer unknown; Frank Coughlan's Trocadero Orchestra 1936, copyright Andrew Bisset

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