Aretino was a United States record label, in business from about 1907 to 1914.
Aretino was started by Arthur J. O’Neill, who was linked to several Chicago-area record and phonograph operations. [1] O’Neill named this company in honor of Guido Aretino, an 11th-century Italian monk.[2] Aretino is an oddity distinguished by its records' spindle hole, the largest ever produced for commercial purposes.[3] It was a premium scheme, similar to many of O’Neill’s operations, in that a phonograph machine was offered cheaply;[4] [5] however, this phonograph could only play Aretino records because it came with a 3-inch spindle.[4] O’Neill also offered adapters for Aretino discs that allowed them to be played on phonographs with a standard spindle, or even on a Busy Bee machine[2] (another O’Neill operation) with its extra spindle hole.
Aretino did not produce any of its own recordings, but it leased masters from other companies. The first series of Aretino records were a single-sided A-prefix[6] sequence that originated from Leeds & Catlin.[1] This supplier also manufactured a double-sided D-prefix series which is scarce. After Leeds & Catlin was shut down by courts for patent infringement, production was moved briefly to Hawthorne & Sheble[7] and Zonophone,[1] continuing as an A-prefix single sided series. Soon afterwards, Columbia became the sole supplier.[3] These D-prefix double-sided discs numbering above 500[8] are the most commonly found. Columbia also produced an A-prefix series and a 12-inch double-sided series.[1] Aretino ceased operations in 1914.[1]
The music that appeared on Aretino label was typical of the period. Henry Burr, William F. Denny, Byron G. Harlan, Ada Jones, Billy Murray, Vess Ossman, Steve Porter, Cal Stewart, and Bert Williams[8] among many other early recording pioneers had their recordings leased to Aretino.