Allied Record Distributing Company (ARDCO)
Distribution company set up by Allied Record Manufacturing Company in 1958 to distribute indie labels. The service included the entire manufacturer-distribution relationship. Initially they mostly distributed singles but after a year they began including albums as part of their ordinary service. In 1960 they created a program named CONART (Consolidated Artists) which enabled artists to act as their own label.
When Allied was sold to PRI in 1961 ARDCO was intended to stay in business, but by 1962 ARDCO's general manager Mike Elliot had left to create Circa (5). CIRCA's business model was much the same as the one previously applied by ARDCO and ARDCO was promptly presented as CIRCA's predecessor by Billboard magazine.
