The Recording The Masters (RTM) brand was introduced in 2016 by the French company Mulann, which specialized in magnetic materials and equipment for the banking card, SIM card, ticketing, and magnetic-stripe media industries. (News from ProSoundWeb.)
The launch of cassette production was driven by Mulann’s acquisition of Pyral’s assets in 2015.
Recording The Masters (RTM) manufactures its tapes in France and holds the original AGFA, BASF, and EMTEC formulas, allowing it to claim a technological heritage spanning nearly a century.
Following the breakup of IG Farben, the manufacturing divisions passed to BASF and AGFA. In the 1990s, BASF acquired AGFA’s magnetic division and Pyral, and in 1991, BASF Magnetics became a separate entity. Initially part of the BASF Magnetics structure, it later became independent.
In 1997, following the sale of the magnetic business to the Korean company KOHAP, it was renamed EMTEC Magnetics; by 2001, EMTEC Magnetics France had effectively become Pyral SAS.
In 2004, Recording Media Group International (RMGI) acquired the audio tape production equipment and technology from the EMTEC facility in Munich. RMGI was based in Oosterhout, Netherlands, at a plant originally built by Philips in 1968. Prior to RMGI, the facility operated as PDM (Philips DuPont Magnetics) and subsequently as Magnetic Products Oosterhout.
In 2012, Pyral acquired RMGI. This was a pivotal event: it enabled Pyral to bring professional audio tape back into production, and RMGI’s equipment was relocated from the Netherlands to Pyral’s plant in Avranches, Normandy. However, the relocation was plagued by problems regarding both the construction of the new production facility and the transfer of technical know-how between the RMGI and Pyral teams. As a result, Pyral faced severe financial difficulties and, in October 2013, was placed under court-supervised restructuring (*redressement judiciaire*).
On June 27, 2016, the French publication "Le Journal des Entreprises" reported the launch of the new "Recording The Masters" brand by Mulann.
Initially, the product lineup retained the following magnetic tapes:
SM900 — a continuation of the professional line historically linked to BASF/AGFA.
SM911 — also a continuation of a historic professional formula.
LPR35 — a long-play version of the corresponding professional technology.
The LPR90, introduced in September 2016, was a product created by RTM/Mulann based on the SM900 but featuring a different base thickness to allow for longer recording times.
Following the launch of RTM production, professional reel-to-reel tape remained the company's core product. However, in 2017, the company began receiving requests from professional duplicators for a new cassette tape. In an interview with *Speakhertz*, sales manager Theo Gardin explained that the demand came primarily from companies involved in cassette manufacturing and duplication.
Thus, the FOX C60 audio cassette was introduced in 2018; it utilized Fe₂O₃ Type I tape, with a magnetic formulation derived from the SM900.
RTM itself attributed the choice of an iron-based formulation to purely practical reasons: sourcing the necessary raw materials for a new cassette formulation was difficult, and the market was relatively small. At the same time, the company aimed to create a high-quality cassette tape that could also be sold to professional duplicators.
In 2020, Mulann entered court-supervised restructuring proceedings. Subsequently, in 2021, the production facility in Avranches was acquired by the Bridford Group. RTM’s official website notes that Alon Avnon supported the Bridford Group’s acquisition of RTM in April 2021 and subsequently joined the company's management. The current entity, RTM Industries SAS, was formed following this transaction.