This company, founded by James Hough, had originated in the early 1890s as an importer of Edison and Columbia phonograph cylinders; from 1898 Hough had also made cylinder records, initially using a separate company, Edisonia.

[1] Winner records, with black or red labels, were mostly of a popular music type, although they included some items of musical distinction, such as early recordings by John Barbirolli, then a child-prodigy performer on the violoncello,[2] and nearly all of the discography of Marie Novello, one of the last students of Theodor Leschetizky.

In the early 1920s the company introduced a higher-quality series, Velvet Face Records, so called because the material of which they were made was allegedly smoother than that used by other manufacturers.

[6] Edison-Bell was eventually absorbed by England-based company Decca Records.

[1] Decca introduced a new series of Winner records that were primarily sourced from American Vocalion.