ABSTRACT
German-born recording industry executive, active in Berlin from 1902 and in the U.S. after 1914. He established the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Supply Co. in New York in 1914, with a factory in Elyria, Ohio. The firm made tone arm rests, needle cups, and other accessories; then began to make the Okeh (originally spelled “OkeH”) disc in May 1918. The success of this record led to the opening of branch offices in Chicago and Toronto. In October 1919 Heinemann renamed his firm the General Phonograph Co. When Columbia bought the Okeh label in 1926, he became president of
the Okeh Phonograph Co., a Columbia subsidiary. Heinemann was the first vice president of the Phonograph Manufacturers National Association on its establishment in 1925.
