Ranking Edison’s 40 Best-Selling Artists of 1906 – 1908

Ranking Edison’s 40 Best-Selling Artists of 1906 – 1908

Compiled by Allan Sutton
from the Edison Dealers’ Order Sheets

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(From the Raymond R. Wile Research Library)

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The following artists were the top sellers on new releases made during the height of the Gold Moulded cylinder’s popularity, based upon the initial dealer-order reports of 1906 through mid-1908. The leading sellers of the period, by far, were Ada Jones (who captured the top three spots), Len Spencer, and Billy Murray. It’s interesting to note that Murray as a soloist ranked only #12, followed by Spencer at #13; but paired with Jones, they ranked in the top two spots.

Some caveats:

(1) The figures are only for initial dealer orders. Some of these records remained in the catalog for long periods, and final total sales figures have not survived, nor have statistics for dealer returns or scrapped copies. However, most sales to dealers occurred in advance of, or immediately following, the initial release date.

(2) The list covers only artists on new releases of the period. Some top-selling artists, like Cal Stewart, do not appear here because Edison did not issue any new records by them during this period, although many of their earlier releases were still in the catalog. Several other very popular artists, including Billy Golden and Murry K. Hill, are not represented because they made so few Edison recordings during this period that the sample size is too small to establish a reliable ranking. Both made the top-seller list (along with Stewart) during the Amberol and early Blue Amberol periods, which will be covered in a future post.

(3) There is strong evidence to suggest that many record buyers of the period were more interested in a given song than in the artist who recorded it. Artists who made a weak showing might have done so, at least to some degree, because they were assigned less-popular material. Conversely, some artists’ rankings might be inflated because they were consistently assigned current hit tunes.

The poorest-selling artists of the period? Those on the Edison Grand Opera cylinders, with average initial orders in the 1,100–1,250 range.

 

 

	Artist(s)	Average Initial Order
1	Ada Jones & Len Spencer	44,076
2	Ada Jones & Billy Murray	42,261
3	Ada Jones (solo; see also #1 and #2)	40,384
4	Edison Vaudeville / Minstrel Company	38,767
5	Frank C. Stanley & Byron G. Harlan	38,186
6	Arthur Collins & Byron G. Harlan	37,957
7	Charles D’Almaine	37,831
8	John J. Kimmel, as “John Kimmble”	36,944
9	Steve Porter	36,717
10	Manuel Romain	35,530
11	Haydn Quartet, as “Edison Male Quartet”	35,095
12	Billy Murray (solo; see also #2)	34,794
13	Len Spencer (solo; see also #1)	34,494
14	Frederick H. Potter	34,306
15	Albert Benzler	34,002
16	Helen Trix	33,968
17	John Young & Frederick J. Wheeler, as “Anthony & Harrison”	33,389
18	S. H. Dudley	33,223
19	Byron G. Harlan (solo; see also #5 and #6)	33,161
20	Stella Tobin	32,832
21	Vess L. Ossman	32,761
23	Arthur Collins (solo; see also #6)	32,346
24	Edward Meeker	32,183
25	Edward M. Favor	32,048
26	Bob Roberts	31,889
27	Will F. Denny	31,537
28	James Brockman	31,334
29	Reinald Werrenrath	31,290
30	Harry Macdonough	30,384
31	Reed Miller	30,283
32	Edison studio bands / orchestras	29,865
33	Henry Burr, as “Irving Gillette”	29,078
34	J. W. Myers	28,259
35	Joe Belmont	28,236
36	Will H. Thompson	28,147
37	Frank C. Stanley (solo; see also #5)	27,854
38	Florence Hinkle	27,829
39	John Young, as “Harry Anthony” (solo; see also #17)	27,178
40	Allen Waterous	27,142

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© 2022 by Allan R. Sutton. All rights are reserved. Exclusive publication rights are assigned to Mainspring Press. Reposting or other distribution in any form without prior written consent of the copyright holder is prohibited.