RCA Victor Cubano, an Idea Whose Time Had Come…Too Late

In 1959 RCA Victor announced a plan to increase its production of Cuban records for both the domestic and international markets. Billboard magazine reported the news in April of that year in an article headlined “Victor sets deal to press disks in Cuba.”

The initiative involved the creation of a joint venture, a new Cuban company called Discuba. Dick Broderick, who was then RCA International’s Export Manager, told Billboard that the initiative would “solidify RCA’s No. 1 position in the Latin American markets.”

Looking back, it appears that the timing, just months after Fidel Castro had taken power, could not have been worse.