When the major
phonograph patents started expiring on the disc phonographs in the mid-1910s, American businesses saw this as an opportunity to invest in a rapidly growing market. Joining with other piano makers making phonographs like
Kimball and
Aeolian, Starr introduced their own line of phonographs in late 1915. The Starr phonograph had a slight success at first for a minor brand, due in part to winning an award at the 1915
Panama–California Exposition. The Gennett brothers toyed with the idea of getting into the record industry, purchasing the masters to the defunct
Phono-Cut Record Company. In late 1914 or early 1915, Starr began issuing records pressed from Phono-Cut masters, under a label named Remington. Although the records failed to sell well commercially, it justified Starr to beef up its record production and build their own recording studio. In 1916 Starr began selling
vertical cut records alongside their phonographs called
Starr Records. (Due to the
Victor and
Columbia patents still in effect on the lateral recording method, other companies were forced to make vertical cut records, including
Paramount,
Okeh, and
Vocalion.) Wanting to sell their records outside Starr piano dealers, the Gennetts felt the label was too closely tied to the Starr name. Beginning in late 1917, into early 1918, the label's name was changed to Gennett to allow non-Starr piano dealers to sell their records.By 1919, the Victor patents on lateral recording were starting to expire, with the remaining patent held in question. Starr, alongside the
General Phonograph Corporation, challenged Victor's patent in court. The judge agreed that Victor was using the patent before
Eldridge Johnson filed it, and had the patent invalidated. With the patent invalidation going into full effect in 1921, nearly all record makers abandoned vertical cut records, with the exception of
Edison and
Pathé. Through the early 1920s, Gennett's new lateral cut records became a popular jazz label, recording artists such as
Jelly Roll Morton,
Bix Beiderbecke,
New Orleans Rhythm Kings, and
King Oliver's band, including some of
Louis Armstrong earliest commercial recordings. At the height of the Starr's manufacturing, they made 25,000 pianos, 15,000 phonographs, and over 4 million records annually. Through the mid-1920s, Starr introduced their own line of electrical recorded records and Isosonic phonographs to compete against Victor's line of
Orthophonic Victrolas. However, their early electrically recorded records were plagued with problems, hurting sales. Though they were able to improve the processes quickly, the damage was done, and sales dropped through the late 1920s. == Closure ==