He started a record company with just $30,000 to take on a billion-dollar industry that shut Black artists out.
His name was Harry Pace, and in 1921, he launched Black Swan Records in Harlem — the first nationally distributed Black-owned record label.
His mission? To showcase the full spectrum of Black musical genius — from opera and classical to jazz and blues — when white labels refused.
With stars like Ethel Waters and Fletcher Henderson, Black Swan shattered stereotypes and proved there was a powerful market for authentic Black art.
But when the giants like Columbia and Paramount fought back — stealing artists and undercutting his prices — Pace’s dream collapsed.
By 1923, Black Swan Records was gone.
But its impact? Eternal.
Without Harry Pace, there would be no Motown, no Stax, no Def Jam.
He laid the foundation for every Black-owned label that followed.
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