add source← Previous revisionRevision as of 22:52, 1 November 2026 Line 19: Line 19: }} }} '''Broome (Special Phonograph) Records''' was the first African American owned and operated record label in the [[United States]]. Established by George W. Broome in 1919, Broome focused on promoting black concert artists who faced discrimination from the major labels. The label stopped pressing records in 1923 but overstock records were supposedly still being sold as late as 1940. '''Broome (Special Phonograph) Records''' was the first African American owned and operated record label in the [[United States]]. Established by George W. Broome in 1919, Broome focused on promoting black concert artists who faced discrimination from the major labels. The label stopped selling records in about 1923 but remainders were supposedly still being sold as late as the 1950s.{{Cite book |last=Brooks |first=Tim |title=Lost sounds: blacks and the birth of the recording industry, 1890-1919 |last2= |first2= |date=2004 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-02850-2 |series=Music in American life |location=Urbana |pages=470}} Most of the records were original issues recorded and pressed by [[Columbia Records|Columbia]], but at least two were pressed from pre-existing masters. ([[Black Swan Records|Black Swan]] was the first African American owned label to record and press their own records.) Broome sold them through a regional mail order catalog that operated throughout eastern Massachusetts but also placed national ads in ''[[The Crisis]]''. Most of the records were original issues recorded and pressed by [[Columbia Records|Columbia]], but at least two were pressed from pre-existing masters. ([[Black Swan Records|Black Swan]] was the first African American owned label to record and press their own records.) Broome sold them through a regional mail order catalog that operated throughout eastern Massachusetts but also placed national ads in ''[[The Crisis]]''.