VM Corporation - History

History

Founded in June 1944 by Walter Miller in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The company originally manufactured only 78 rpm record changers and labeled them simply as "A V-M Product". The brand name "Voice of Music" was suggested by a V-M engineer and first used in 1952.

V-M kept up with each innovation in records and this required significant investment to retool their record changers. First came two speed changers after Columbia Records introduced the LP in 1948, then adding 45rpm after RCA brought that innovation to market in 1949, and ultimately ending up with the fourth speed (16⅔ rpm) for "talking books" in 1954. The changers themselves were innovative - the three and four speed models especially featuring reliable, jam-proof mechanisms.

Amplified phonographs were introduced in the early 1950s, and V-M brought out the Model 700 tape recorder late in 1954. Throughout the '50's and '60's, tape recorders, phonographs, consoles and components by V-M were popular with consumers for a variety of reasons. V-M Corporation's "Educational Systems" tape recorders and phonos with rugged cases were popular with schools and institutions. A brief entry into the audiophile market in 1970 with the V-M "Professional Series" was technically successful - but by this point, V-M Corporation was too financially weak to back a successful marketing campaign, so these products are rare and sought after today.

First and foremost, V-M was a record changer and tape deck supplier to dozens of familiar brand names of their day, such as Zenith and Motorola to name only two good customers. These large production volumes helped V-M keep its own Voice of Music brand profitable for many years. After 1965, the trend became clear that American audio companies were going out of business or shifting production overseas. As V-M's record changer volumes declined, it became difficult for the company to remain profitable. Retailing began to change from small "mom and pop" stores (V-M's strength) to large electronics retailers where V-M was under-represented. The end came in July 1977 when a power failure in New York City prevented a wire transfer of critically needed funds, and the company declared bankruptcy.