The Apex Building, home of the Sun Record Company, 1926   The Canadian phonograph record industry was, like many Canadian industries, primarily a subsidiary operation to U.S. (and, to a lesser extent, British) firms. From 1924, when the gradual takeover of the Berliner operation by the Victor Talking Machine Company became final, until the post-war appearance of firms both independent and Canadian, there was only one Canadian firm in the record business: this was Herbert Berliner's Compo Company. (The significance, if any, of the name has yet to be discovered.) The firm was founded by Herbert Berliner, son of the inventor of the disc gramophone and previously vice-president of the Berliner operations in Montreal. In late 1918 and early 1919, several of the U.S. independent firms began pressing lateral-cut records, an action later vindicated by the courts, who established that the essential patents on the lateral records had expired. At this time, Herbert Berliner, noting that the Phonola firm was in a position to issue U.S. Okeh records under their own label, and no doubt foreseeing that other independent firms in the U.S. would be seeking similar arrangements and surely noting, as well, that the expanding Victor firm would be unwilling to allow too much independence to its "Canadian" connection, began making preparations to enter the record manufacturing field. In early 1919 the Compo Company began operations, at first pressing Okeh masters for the Phonola label, and shortly thereafter pressing Gennett records for the Starr Piano Company's Canadian subsidiary; both phonograph firms had previously imported records. Herbert Berliner left his father's firm to serve as president of the Compo firm. .... Berliner had further plans, however. In May, 1921, the new Sun label was announced, accompanied in September by the more familiar Apex label. The two labels drew from both Okeh and Gennett, as well as Compo's own studios, inaugurated in July, 1921. ... In 1922, another source of material was arranged; this was the Plaza Music Company of New York who issued Banner and Regal records, first using material from the New York Recording Laboratories and later their own masters. These were issued on an 8000 series. The original plan appears to have been to issue all series on the various labels, but this occurred for only a short time. The Sun label was dropped entirely (to be revived in 1931), and the Starr-Gennett label, replacing the Canadian Gennett label, ... A number of short-lived client labels were pressed, usually for phonograph firms, such as Hectrola, Hydrola, Operaphone and the like, using various numbers from all series. Shortly after the introduction of Apex records, the Phonola firm left the record business entirely. In 1923, apparently as a reply to the successful National Music Lovers firm, selling records by mail order, the short-lived Canadian Music Lovers Library label appeared. About two dozen records were issued; however, judging from their relative scarcity, the venture was nowhere near as successful as its American counterpart. It is not yet known if Compo pressed the records for some imaginative entrepreneur or if the venture was a Compo project. ..... At the end of 1924, the use of Gennett masters was virtually dropped, apparently due, at least in part, to poor sales. The Starr name was maintained, with its "Gennett" sub-credit deleted, ..... The Starr name would continue into the late 1940s, long after the parent firm itself left the record business... One practice of Compo produced some extremely rare items. This was the manufacture of several labels during the 1924-1927 period for export to Australia and New Zealand. Labels include Palings, Leonora and Beeda, the latter two using usual Compo issue numbers. Canadian Starr records were apparently exported as well. Finally, in late 1924, the first of a bewildering array of "cut-price" labels under the name of Domino appeared. This was related minimally, if at all, to the similarly-named U.S. label, although both drew primarily from Plaza. ....In 1925 the Microphone label, using 22000/22500 numbers, and the Lucky Strike label, using 24000/24500 numbers appeared. It is possible than one or both of these were intended for a store chain. Meanwhile, Compo had made an eventually unsuccessful effort to enter the "race" record market in the U.S., for unknown and hardly explainable reasons, with the Ajax label. This produced a number of records highly valued by collectors, but no particular success, and the records were being remaindered by mid 1925. From 1925 until 1929, Compo issued Apex, Starr, Domino, Microphone and Lucky Strike records ..... In 1929, the Compo Company, for unknown reasons, completely reorganized their stable of labels. The Lucky Strike and Microphone labels disappeared, to be superceded by Crown, Royal and, somewhat later, Sterling, introduced in 1931 as 35 cent competition for Bluebird. All of the new labels and the continued Domino label were numbered in a new 81000 series...... In early 1931, the 81000 series was unaccountably dropped and a similar 91000 series phased in, with a 93000 series paralleling the 83000 series, used as a catch-all for Compo's own recordings and sides from miscellaneous U.S. sources; primarily the new Crown label (which was unrelated to the Canadian label of the same name). It is not known why the numbers were changed, as there were numbers remaining in the old series and labels, or even prefixes, stayed as before. The arrangement continued until 1932. ....... Herbert Berliner sold Compo to Decca(US) in 1950, and the latter firm was later acquired by MCA. MCA seems to have dropped Apex in the late 1970's, with the last known use being on Francophone LP's around 1980. Quelle und mehr: http://www.mgthomas.co.uk/Dancebands/Labels/LabelPages/Apex.htm und http://www.capsnews.org/barrcom.htm