RCA Compact 33 RPM Record Guide (US) (37 Prefix)

In 1960, RCA and a number of major record labels had introduced the compact 33 single in an attempt to create a one-speed format market. It was a move that many within the industry had thought would take two to five years for the market sales to switch from the 45s to the compact 33s. With a shortage of inexpensive automatic 33-speed singles players to discourage promotion of the compact 33 and the majority, of 3,000 discount stores cutting their prices of the 45 RPM from ninety-eight cents to seventy-seven cents, by 1961 the compact 33 as an industry standard was no more.¹