John Culshaw joined Decca after the war as a studio assistant and went on to become recording manager and then musical director. He pioneered the use of stereo for recording opera, his aim being to involve the listener in the drama and so make the opera come alive. He produced over twenty operas after the advent of stereo.

John Culshaw was working on the last chapters of his autobiography, Putting the Record Straight, when he died, in 1980, from a rare form of hepatitis.