Ariola Schallplatten GmbH

German record company behind the Bertelsmann Schallplattenring record sales club had encountered with obtaining licences from the major record companies.

As a credit, Ariola Schallplatten GmbH was interchangeable with Ariola GmbH on labels and sleeves in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
From Summer 1960 on, Ariola GmbH was the official company's name.
The company was renamed to Ariola-Sonopress GmbH in July 1962.

The cat# system followed a strict pattern in the early 60s:
First digit:
1 = classical
2 = Baccarola repertoire
3 or 4 = Ariola dance and pop repertoire
5 = speech recording
6 = jazz
7 = international repertoire

2nd digit:
1 = LP 12" 33 rpm mono
2 = LP 12" 33 rpm stereo
3 = LP 10" 33 rpm mono
4 = LP 10" 33 rpm stereo
5 = 7" 45 rpm common mono
6 = 7" 45 rpm extended play mono
7 = 7" 45 rpm common stereo
8 = 7" 45 rpm extended play stereo

The literal suffixes are price codes