Champion Records was a

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

Richmond, Indiana Richmond () is a city in eastern Wayne County, Indiana, United States. Bordering the state of Ohio, it is the county seat of Wayne County. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 35,720. It is the principal c ...

, founded in 1925 by the

Starr Piano Company The Starr Piano Company was an American manufacturer of Piano, pianos from the late 1800s to the middle 1900s. Founded by James Starr, the company also made phonographs and records and was the parent company of the jazz label Gennett Records, Gen ...

as a division of

Gennett Records Gennett Records () was an American record company and label in Richmond, Indiana, United States, which flourished in the 1920s and produced the Gennett, Starr, Champion, Superior, and Van Speaking labels. The company also produced some Supertone, ...

, which was also in Richmond. Champion released budget versions of discs issued by Gennett. Its issues included

race records Race records is a term for 78-rpm phonograph records marketed to African Americans between the 1920s and 1940s.Oliver, Paul. "Race record". Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 13 Feb. 2015. They primarily contained race music, comprising var ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

. In 1934, Champion closed and the trademark was sold to

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

, which brought the label back from 1935 to 1936.

References

External links

Champion Records
on the Internet Archive'
Great 78 Project
American jazz record labels {{US-record-label-stub