Record Dither

In the record war between RCA Victor and Columbia Records, Inc., both sides have hotly wooed Decca Records, Inc. as a prospective ally. But Decca, third largest U.S. recordmaker, has played hard to get, shrewdly watching & waiting to see whether RCA's 45 r.p.m. or Columbia's 33 1/3 r.p.m. long-playing record would win the battle on retail counters. Last week, convinced that it was getting in on "the biggest possible market," Decca lined up with Columbia. With 15 smaller recorders already making 33 1/3 r.p.m. LP records, Decca's decision meant that Columbia had just about won the war.

There was no doubt that RCA was taking a licking. In Detroit, Grinnell Bros. Music House (with 30 branches) estimated that Columbia's LP records were outselling RCA's 30 to 1. Chicago's leading record dealer, Hudson-Ross, said that the RCA 45 "just hasn't caught on." In other cities, dealers reported that LP records were the only ones for which there was a big demand. Many retailers had trimmed prices of standard (78 r.p.m.) records as much as 50% in order to keep stocks moving. Moaned a Los Angeles dealer: "The manufacturers have got everybody in a dither."

Despite the setback, RCA would not admit defeat. This week it announced a $1,000,000 ad campaign to plug its 455. At the same time, RCA will cut the price of its record-player attachment from $24.95 to $12.95. But RCA is a little late. Three months ago Columbia brought out an LP player attachment for $9.95.

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