First-Ever Black-Owned Record Label (No, It’s Not Motown Records!)

Motown Records may be the most successful Black-owned record label of all time, but they were indeed not the first! Black Swan Records, which was started in Harlem, NYC in 1921 by entrepreneur Harry Pace, had a short but influential life in producing popular music for black audiences. From 1921 to 1923, the company released…