Six years later, as leader of his own dance band, the Novelty Orchestra, he released what was later alleged to be the biggest-selling popular song in the first quarter-century of recorded music.

During the Columbia era, Selvin recorded under many different names (for Columbia, OKeh, Odeon, Parlophone, Harmony, Diva, Velvet Tone, and Clarion) including:[6] Under his own name, Selvin had accepted an exclusive contract to Brunswick Records when the company's management decided to venture into radio with “The Brunswick Hour”, under the direction of Gus Haenschen.

When it became clear to Brunswick's management that an urgent need existed for pre-recorded music programming for smaller radio stations unable to afford their own orchestras, Brunswick's general manager William A. Brophy agreed with the recommendations of his assistant secretary Percy L. Deutsch, popular-music director Haenschen, and arranger-conductor Frank Black to develop a library of high-quality recorded music for leasing to smaller radio stations.

The new venture was called the World Broadcasting System, with newly-constructed recording facilities in Manhattan called Sound Studios, Inc. Haenschen persuaded Selvin to leave Brunswick to accept an offer from Columbia Records to become the company's Artists and Repertoire director while also serving as a silent partner in the World Broadcasting venture.

Selvin, who was known for his ability to write orchestral arrangements rapidly and to oversee multiple recording sessions, became a central figure in the success of World Broadcasting.

[14] As the decade came to a close, Selvin continued to expand the content of the RCA Thesaurus musical library by recruiting several orchestra leaders from the Big Band era including: Sammy Kaye, Freddie Martin and Lawrence Welk.

[15][16][17] An agreement with the JATP impresario Norman Granz was also signed at this time which enabled Selvin to showcase performances by leading soloists from the realm of Jazz including: Count Basie, Roy Eldridge, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz, Gene Krupa, Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum.