Race Records

Race Records The term given by American record companies to recordings by Black performers intended for the Black market, in use from about 1921 until the early 1940s. Generally, these records were placed into a separate, numbered series, just as recordings aimed at various ethnic markets (Jewish, Italian, Irish, etc.) and other specialized markets (such as country music and jazz). Okeh was the first label to use the term in advertising: “All the greatest Race phonograph stars can be heard on…