Odeon.
A record factory and Studio owned by Victor Talking Machine opens in Buenos Aires in Jan 1922. "Sucursal Argentina" starts being credited in 1923. Previous Victor recordings of Argentina artists exist since 1908 but it's unknown if the company existed back then.
In February or March 1931, RCA Victor Argentina, Inc. - Latest known Victor #cat is 47585 with perforation (recording) date 1931/01
Important: Perforation (Recording) date of songs found online do not represent the release date.
Information on early Tango recordings has been compiled in multiple books and it's availability online often leads to misinformation. From the point of recording the tracks may be pressed and releases as little as a one or two months later, delayed, shelved permanently or assembled ecletically in 78RPM records years after. While the studio of Victor is unknown and the label does not use matrix numbers, Victor has recorded and permitted access to a comprehensive internal catalogue, however considerations must be taken into when curating the date, as recording date and year of release will not always align. Recordings may be:
1. Released (on average) within two or three months, depending on pressing & distribution related factors.
2. Released with delay some months o years later. These delays are clearly noticeable due to asyncronic label design that doesn't fit the inmediate period recorded.
3. Arranged with tracks from other recording sessions and released later. Easy to notice due to asyncronic label design and mismatched peforation dates.
4. Shelved permanently and never released on 78RPM, they usually appear on 60s EP/LP compilations or CD collections many decades later. This is ittedly more common on Odeon recordings.
Chronological Label Analysis:
1922 - Late 1925
- On Jan. 1922 the Victor argentinian factory & recording studio open, matrix BA #cat 73000. Design markerted in spanish to Argentina, including "His Master's Voice" 1908 patent in spanish,
- After an initial batch of records the phrase "Repertorio Nacional" appears on Argentine-recorded records (earliest possible date 1922/05) (ex. 1)
- The promotional text "El mejor resultado se obtiene con la púa Tungs-tone Victrola" is added (earliest known date 1924/05) (ex.1 - ex. 2 - ex. 3)
Late 1926 - 1931
- Electric recordings are introduced, label get's completely redesigned into a scroll-circle design, "Grabación Ortfónica" appears on center-left, VE (Victor Electrical) appears on top and bottom. Company info appears on bottom (ex. 1)
- On early 1927 Grabación Ortófonica gets moved to top, record company has "Camden N.J. USA" removed, "His Master's Voice" logo gets nudged closet to title (ex. 1)
Catalogue Logic:
Victor Talking Machine Co. first arrived on Argentina in 1907 during a series of recording field trips, and from 1913-1922 by transporting artists to the USA and having them record there. It is unknown if the recordings pressed were meant to be sold in Argentina.
1908-1922 - Pressed in Camden NJ main factory // 6XXXX
62XXX - Mobile Acoustic Grammophone recordings from Buenos Aires, from a 1907-1908 and 1909-1910 Victor field trips (pub. in USA)
63XXX - Mobile Acoustic Grammophone recordings from Buenos Aires, from an 1911-1912 Victor field trip. (pub. 1912 & 1913 in USA)
65XXX--69XXX - Acoustic Grammophone recordings in Camden & New York, 1915
1922-1931 - Following Max Glucksmann's opening of the country's first grammophone factory in 1919, Victor opens their own with an unique catalogue // 7XXXX
72XXX - 73XXX - 77XXX - 78XXX - 79XXX - 80XXX - 1923-1929
47XXX - 1929-1931
