Here’s a little lesson in the history of recording economics. Until the 1940s, musicians did not earn royalties on recordings; they were paid a flat fee for making a record. The economic incentive, therefore, was all in favor of making as many records as possible. Exclusive contracts became common in the 1920s, but before that it was common for musicians to record the same number for as many recording companies as would pay them. (It was fairly common even with exclusive contracts, but the lesser labels would have to be contented with releasing the records under pseudonyms.) Here we have the great Fred Van Eps playing a banjo-with-orchestra number by B. Hartz, first for Victor and then for Columbia, which gives us an excellent opportunity to compare the technical merits of the two record labels. Columbia tends to preserve a more natural sound, and the treble is especially lively. But the surface of Columbia records tends to decay much more, so that we hear much more surface noise. In order to preserve the astonishingly real treble sound, we have left more surface noise than usual in the Columbia side.

Here is another thing to know about acoustical recordings: since the process was entirely mechanical, the recording speed is only approximate. We have sped up the Victor record very slightly so that it plays at the same pitch as the Columbia record.

First, the Victor record, made on May 1, 1912:

Now, the Columbia record, made on January 3, 1913: