| Columbia Records | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Parent company | Sony BMG |
| Founded | 1888 |
| Distributing label | Columbia Records (In the U.S. and U.K.) |
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | U.S. |
| Official website | columbiarecords.com |
Columbia Records is an American record label founded in 1888. Sony BMG Music Entertainment is a diverse music and entertainment group The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The United States of America —commonly referred to as the In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music
Columbia is one of the oldest surviving brand name in pre-recorded sound, being the first record company to produce pre-recorded records as opposed to blank cylinders. A brand is a collection of Images and ideas representing an economic producer more specifically it refers to the descriptive verbal attributes and concrete symbols such as a Columbia Records went on to release records by an array of notable singers, instrumentalists and groups. Today it is a premier subsidiary label of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Inc. Sony BMG Music Entertainment is a diverse music and entertainment group
Contents |
Early history
Columbia was originally the local company distributing and selling Edison phonographs and phonograph cylinders in Washington, DC, Maryland and Delaware, and derives its name from the District of Columbia, which was its headquarters. The phonograph, or gramophone, was the most common device for playing recorded Sound from the 1870s through the 1980s The earliest method of recording and reproducing sound was on phonograph cylinders. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Delaware ( is a state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D As was the custom of some of the regional phonograph companies, Columbia produced many commercial cylinder recordings of its own, and its catalogue of musical records in 1891 was 10 pages long. Columbia severed its ties to Edison and the North American Phonograph Company in 1893, and thereafter sold only records and phonographs of its own manufacture. Year 1893 ( MDCCCXCIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common
Columbia began selling disc records and phonographs in addition to the cylinder system in 1901. A gramophone Year 1901 ( MCMI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting For a decade, Columbia competed with both the Edison Phonograph Company cylinders and the Victor Talking Machine Company disc records as one of the top three names in recorded sound. Edison Records was the first Record label, pioneering Recorded sound and an important player in the early Record industry. Victrola redirects here For other uses see Victrola (disambiguation The Victor Talking Machine Company ( 1901 – 1929 In 1908 Columbia introduced mass production of "Double Sided" disc records, with recordings stamped into both sides of the disc. Year 1908 ( MCMVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year
During this early period, Columbia used the famous "Magic Notes" logo--a pair of sixteenth notes in a circle—both in the United States and overseas (where this logo would never substantially change). In Music, a sixteenth note (American or "German" terminology or semiquaver (also occasionally demiquaver, British or "classical"
In July 1912, Columbia decided to concentrate exclusively on disc records and stopped recording new cylinder records and manufacturing cylinder phonographs although they continued pressing and selling cylinder records from their back catalogue for a year or two more. Year 1912 ( MCMXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting
On February 25, 1925, Columbia began recording with the new electric recording process licensed from Western Electric. Western Electric Company (sometimes abbreviated WE and WECo) was an American Electrical engineering company the manufacturing arm The new "Viva-tonal" records set a benchmark in tone and clarity unequalled during the 78 era. The first electrical recordings were made by Art Gillham, the popular "Whispering Pianist. Art Gillham, ( January 1, 1895 in St Louis, Missouri – June 6, 1961 in Atlanta, Georgia) was a " In a secret agreement with Victor, both companies did not make the new recording technology public knowledge for some months, in order not to hurt sales of their existing acoustically recorded catalogue while a new electrically recorded catalogue was being built.
In 1926, Columbia acquired Okeh Records and its growing stable of jazz and blues artists including Louis Armstrong. Year 1926 ( MCMXXVI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Okeh Records began as an Independent record label based in the United States of America in Louis Armstrong (August 4 1901 &ndash July 6 1971 nicknamed Satchmo or Sachimo and Pops, was an American Jazz Trumpeter In 1928, Paul Whiteman, the nation's most popular orchestra leader, left Victor to record for Columbia. Paul Whiteman ( March 28, 1890 &ndash December 29, 1967) was an American orchestral That same year, Columbia executive Frank Buckley Walker pioneered some of the first country music or "hillbilly" genre recordings in Johnson City, Tennessee including artists such as Clarence Greene and the legendary fiddler and entertainer, "Fiddlin" Charlie Bowman. Johnson City is a city in Carter, Sullivan, and Washington Counties in the U 1929 saw industry legend Ben Selvin signing on as house bandleader and A. Ben Selvin ( March 5, 1898 - July 15, 1980) son of Russian immigrant Jewish parents was a musician bandleader Record & R. director. Other favorites in the Viva-tonal era included Ruth Etting, Fletcher Henderson and Ted Lewis. Ruth Etting ( November 23 1896 – September 24 1978) was an American singing star of the 1930s who had over sixty hit recordings Fletcher Hamilton Henderson Jr ( December 18, 1897 &ndash December 28, 1952) was an American pianist bandleader Arranger Ted Lewis may be Ted Lewis (baseball (1872-1936 Edward Morgan Lewis Ted Lewis (musician (1892-1971 US bandleader musician entertainer Columbia kept using acoustic recording for "budget label" pop product well into 1929 on the Harmony and Velvet Tone labels.
Columbia ownership separation
In 1931, the English Columbia Graphophone Company (itself originally a subsidiary of American Columbia Records, then to become independent, actually went on to purchase its former parent, American Columbia, in late 1929) merged with the Gramophone Company to form Electric & Musical Industries Ltd. The Columbia Graphophone Company was one of the earliest Gramophone companies in the United Kingdom. The Gramophone Company, based in the United Kingdom, was one of the early recording companies, and was the parent organization for the famous "His Master's Voice" (EMI). The EMI Group is a British music company comprising the major record company EMI Music – which operates several labels and is based in Kensington in EMI was forced to sell its American Columbia operations because of anti-trust concerns to the Grigsby-Grunow Company, makers of the Majestic Radio. But Majestic soon fell on hard times. A notable marketing ploy was the Columbia "Royal Blue Record," a brilliant blue laminated product with matching label. Royal Blue issues, made from 1932-35, are particularly popular with collectors for their rarity and musical interest. An abortive attempt in 1931 (around the same time that Victor was experimenting with their 33 1/3 "program transcriptions") was the "Longer Playing Record," a finer-grooved 10" 78 with 4:30 to 5:00 playing time per side. Columbia issued about 8 of these (in the 18000-D series), as well as a short-lived series of double-grooved "Longer Playing Record"s on its Harmony Records, Clarion Records and Velvet Tone Records labels. Velvet Tone Records was a United States based Record label, active from 1925 through 1932. All of these experiments were discontinued by 1932.
But with the Great Depression's tightened economic stranglehold on the country, in a day when the phonograph itself had become a passé luxury, nothing slowed Columbia's decline. Yet, despite this, it was still producing some of the most remarkable records of the day. Grigsby-Grunow went under In 1934, and was forced to sell Columbia for a mere $75,000 to the American Record Corporation (ARC). The American Record Corporation, often known as ARC Records or simply ARC, was a United States based Record company. This combine already included Brunswick as its premium label, and Columbia was relegated to slower sellers such as the Hawaiian music of Andy Iona, and the still unknown Benny Goodman. Brunswick Records is a United States based Record label. The label is currently distributed by Koch Entertainment. Andy Iona (1902 - 1966 was an American musician and one of Hawaii 's most influential musicians By late 1936, pop releases were discontinued, leaving the label essentially defunct.
Then, in 1935, Herbert M. Greenspon, an 18-year-old shipping clerk, led a committee to organize the first trade union shop at at the main manufacturing factory in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Elected as president of the Congress of Industrial Unions (CIO) local, Mister Greenspon negotiated the first contract between factory workers and Columbia management. In a career with Columbia that lasted 30 years, Greenspon retired after achieving the position of executive vice president of the company.
CBS takes over
In 1938 ARC, including the Columbia label in the USA, was bought by William S. Paley of the Columbia Broadcasting System for US$750,000. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. William Samuel Paley ( September 28, 1901 &ndash October 26, 1990) was the chief executive who built Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc ( CBS) is an American radio and Television network. [1] ( Columbia Records had originally co-founded CBS, but soon cashed out leaving only the name. ) CBS revived the Columbia label in the place of Brunswick and the Okeh label in the place of Vocalion. Vocalion Records was a Record label historically active in the United States and in the United Kingdom. The Columbia trademark from this point until the late 1950s was two overlapping circles with the Magic Notes in the left circle and a CBS microphone in the right circle. The Royal Blue labels now disappeared in favor of a deep red, which caused RCA Victor to claim infringement on its "Red Seal" trademark. RCA Records (originally The Victor Talking Machine Company, then RCA Victor is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. (RCA lost the case. ) The blue Columbia label was kept for its classical music Columbia Masterworks Records line until it was later changed to a green label before switching to a gray label in the late 1950s, and then to the bronze that is familiar to owners of its classical and Broadway albums. Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and Secular music Columbia Masterworks Records was a Record label started in 1927 by Columbia Records. Columbia Phonograph Company of Canada did not survive the Great Depression, so CBS made a distribution deal with Sparton Records in 1939 to release Columbia records in Canada under the Columbia name. Sparton Records was a Canadian record company which was based in London Ontario. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
The LP Record
Columbia's president Edward (Ted) Wallerstein, instrumental in steering Paley to the ARC purchase, at this time set his talents to the goal (as he saw it) of hearing an entire movement of a symphony on one side of an album. Ward Botsford writing for the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Issue of "High Fidelity Magazine" relates, "He was no inventor—he was simply a man who seized an idea whose time was ripe and begged, ordered, and cajoled a thousand men into bringing into being the now accepted medium of the record business. " Despite Wallerstein's stormy tenure, in 1948 Columbia introduced the Long Playing microgroove (LP) record (sometimes in early advertisements Lp) format, which rotated at 33⅓ revolutions per minute, to be the standard for the gramophone record for half a century. Year 1948 ( MCMXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A gramophone CBS research director Dr. Peter Goldmark played a managerial role in the collaborative effort, but Wallerstein credits engineer Bill Savory with the technical prowess that brought the long-playing disc to the public. Peter Goldmark may refer to Peter Carl Goldmark, engineer and inventor Peter J By the early 1940s, Columbia had been experimenting with higher fidelity recordings, as well as longer masters, which paved the way for the successful release of the LPs in 1948. One such record that helped set a new standard for music listeners was the 10" LP reissue of The Voice of Frank Sinatra, originally released on March 4th 1946 as an album of four 78 rpm records, which was the first pop album issued in the new LP format. The Voice of Frank Sinatra is the first Studio album by American Singer Frank Sinatra, released in 1946. Sinatra was arguably Columbia's hottest commodity and his artistic vision combined with the direction Columbia were taking the medium of music, both popular and classic, were well suited. The Voice of Frank Sinatra was also considered to be the first genuine Concept Album. In Popular music, a concept album is an Album which is "unified by a theme which can be instrumental compositional narrative or lyrical"
Columbia's LPs were particularly well-suited to classical music's longer pieces, so some of the early albums featured such artists as Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Bruno Walter and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and Sir Thomas Beecham and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Eugene Ormandy ( November 18, 1899 &ndash March The Philadelphia Orchestra is an Orchestra based in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, in the United States. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Bruno Walter ( September 15, 1876 &ndash February The New York Philharmonic is the oldest active Symphony Orchestra in the United States, organized during 1842 Sir Thomas Beecham 2nd Baronet, CH (29 April 1879 &ndash 8 March 1961 was a British conductor and Impresario. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ( RPO) is a British Orchestra based in London. The success of these recordings eventually persuaded Capitol Records to begin releasing LPs in 1949. Capitol Records is a major United States -based Record label owned by EMI and located in Hollywood California and New York City as More significantly, RCA Victor began releasing LPs in 1950, quickly followed by other major American labels. (Decca Records in the U. Decca Records is a British Record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. K. was the first to release LPs in Europe, beginning in 1949. )
An "original cast recording" of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific with Ezio Pinza and Mary Martin was recorded in 1949. Richard Rodgers (1902 &ndash 1979 and Oscar Hammerstein II (1895 &ndash 1960 were a well-known American songwriting duo South Pacific is a musical, with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and book by both Hammerstein and Joshua The Italian bass Ezio Pinza ( 18 May 1892 - 9 May 1957 was one of the outstanding Opera singers of the first half Mary Virginia Martin ( December 1, 1913 – November 3, 1990) was an American Tony Award -winning star of stage film Both conventional metal masters and tape were used in the sessions in New York City. For some reason, the taped version was not used until Sony released it as part of a set of CDs devoted to Columbia's Broadway albums. [2] Over the years, Columbia joined Decca and RCA Victor in specializing in albums devoted to Broadway musicals with members of the original casts. In the 1950s, Columbia also began releasing LPs drawn from the soundtracks of popular films.
The 1950s
In 1951, Columbia USA began issuing records in the 45 rpm format RCA had introduced two years earlier. [1] Also that year, Columbia USA severed its decades-long distribution arrangement with EMI and signed a distribution deal with Philips Records to market Columbia recordings outside North America. Philips Records is a Record label that was founded by Dutch electronics giant Philips. EMI continued to distribute Okeh, and later Epic, label recordings for several years into the 1960s. EMI also continued to distribute Columbia recordings in Australia and New Zealand. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island
Columbia became the most successful non-rock record company in the 1950s when they hired impresario Mitch Miller away from the Mercury label (Columbia was very disinterested in the teenage rock market until the early 1960's). Mitchell William Miller (born July 4, 1911) is an American Musician, Singer, conductor, Record producer, Miller quickly signed on Mercury's biggest artist at the time, Frankie Laine, and discovered several of the decade's biggest recording stars including Tony Bennett, Jimmy Boyd, Guy Mitchell, Johnnie Ray, The Four Lads, Rosemary Clooney, Ray Conniff and Johnny Mathis. Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio ( Chicago, March 30, 1913 – San Diego, February 6, 2007) Tony Bennett (born Anthony Dominick Benedetto; August 3 1926) is an American Singer of popular music, standards For the actor from The Electric Company, see Jim Boyd (actor. Guy Mitchell ( February 22, 1927 - July 1, 1999) was a Croatian-American pop Singer, was successful in his homeland John Alvin Ray ( January 10 1927 &ndash February 24 1990) was an American Singer, Songwriter, and The Four Lads were a Canadian singing group They grew up together in Toronto Ontario, and were members of St Rosemary Clooney ( May 23, 1928 &ndash June 29, 2002) was an American Singer and actress whose warm radiant Joseph Raymond Conniff ( November 06, 1916 - October 12 2002) was an American musician John Royce "Johnny" Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American Singer of Popular music. He also oversaw many of the early singles of the label's top female recording star of the decade, Doris Day. Doris Mary Anne von Kappelhoff (born April 3, 1922) is an American Singer, actress, and animal welfare advocate known as In 1953, CBS formed Columbia's sister label Epic Records. Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Epic Records is an American Record label. It is owned and operated by Sony Music Entertainment. 1954 saw Columbia end its distribution arrangement with Sparton Records and form Columbia Records of Canada. Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) [2]
With 1955, Columbia USA decisively broke with its past when it introduced its new, modernist-style "Walking Eye" logo. Modernism describes an array of Cultural movements rooted in the changes in Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century This logo actually depicts a stylus (the legs) on a record (the eye); however, the "eye" also subtly refers to CBS's main business in television, and that division's iconic Eye logo. CBS Broadcasting Inc ( CBS) is an American radio and Television network. Columbia continued to use the "notes and mike" logo on record labels and even used a promo label showing both logos until the "notes and mike" was phased out in 1958. The original Walking Eye was tall and solid; it was modified in 1960 to the familiar one still used today (pictured on this page).
Columbia changed distributors in Australia and New Zealand in 1956 when the Australian Record Company picked up distribution of U. S. Columbia product to replace the Capitol Records product which ARC lost when EMI bought Capitol. Capitol Records is a major United States -based Record label owned by EMI and located in Hollywood California and New York City as As EMI owned the Columbia trademark at that time, the U. S. Columbia material was issued in Australia and New Zealand on the CBS Coronet label. Coronet Records was a Record label in Australia, based in Sydney NSW.
Stereo
Columbia began recording in stereo in 1956. One of their first stereo releases was an abridged and re-structured performance of Handel's Messiah by the New York Philharmonic and the Westminster Choir conducted by Leonard Bernstein (recorded on December 31, 1956, on 1/2 inch tape, using an Ampex 300-3 machine). Messiah ( HWV 56 is an Oratorio by George Frideric Handel based on a Libretto by Charles Jennens. The New York Philharmonic is the oldest active Symphony Orchestra in the United States, organized during 1842 Westminster Choir College is a residential College of music located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes Bernstein combined the Nativity and Resurrection sections, and ended the performance with the death of Christ. As with RCA Victor, most of the early stereo recordings were of classical artists, including the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Bruno Walter, Dmitri Mitropoulos, and Leonard Bernstein, and the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy, who also recorded an abridged Messiah for Columbia. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Bruno Walter ( September 15, 1876 &ndash February Dimitris Mitropoulos (Δημήτρης Μητρόπουλος ( &ndash November 2, 1960) known in the West as Dimitri Mitropoulos WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Eugene Ormandy ( November 18, 1899 &ndash March Some sessions were made with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra, an ensemble drawn from leading New York musicians, which had first made recordings with Sir Thomas Beecham in 1949 in Columbia's famous New York City studios. George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra recorded mostly for Epic. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> George Szell (ˈsɛl ( June 7, 1897 &ndash July The Cleveland Orchestra, located in Cleveland, Ohio is one of the major symphony Orchestras in the United States. When Epic dropped classical music, the roster and catalogue was moved to Columbia Masterworks Records. Columbia Masterworks Records was a Record label started in 1927 by Columbia Records.
The 1960s
In 1961, CBS ended its arrangement with Philips Records and formed its own international organization, CBS Records, which released Columbia recordings outside the USA and Canada on the CBS label. When Epic's distribution deal with EMI expired, CBS Records distributed Epic recordings on the Epic label outside North America as well. Epic distributed Ode Records between 1967-1969 and between 1976-1979
With the formation of CBS Records' international arm, it started establishing its own distribution in the early 1960s beginning in Australia. Ode Records was a Record label, started by Lou Adler in 1967 after he sold Dunhill Records to ABC Records. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. In 1960 CBS took over its distributor in Australia and New Zealand, the Australian Record Company (founded in 1936) including Coronet Records, one of the leading Australian independent recording and distribution companies of the day. Coronet Records was a Record label in Australia, based in Sydney NSW. The CBS Coronet label was replaced by the CBS label with the 'walking eye' logo in 1963. [3] ARC continued trading under that name until the late 1970s when it formally changed its business name to CBS Australia.
In 1962, Columbia joined in the then red hot folk music genre by releasing debut albums by the New Christy Minstrels and, more significantly, Bob Dylan. Folk music can have a number of different meanings including Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous The New Christy Minstrels is an American Folk music group that came to prominence in the 1960s Bob Dylan (born Robert Zimmerman, May 24 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota) is an American singer-songwriter author poet and painter who has been a major
In September 1964, CBS established its own British distribution by purchasing its British distributor, the independent Oriole Records (UK) label, pressing plant and recording studio (as well as its sold-only-in-Woolworth's Embassy cover version label). Oriole Records was the first British Record label founded in 1925 by the London -based Levy Company which owned a gramophone record subsidiary [4]
In 1966, another Columbia subsidiary label, Date, was created mainly for the soul music outlet. This label released the first string of hits for Peaches & Herb. ' Peaches & Herb are a vocalist duo, once comprising Herb Fame, and Francine "Peaches" Hurd Barker (April 28 1947 - August 13 2005 Date's biggest success was Time Of The Season by The Zombies, peaking at #2 in 1969. For the Undead creature of Vodou lore see Zombie. For other meanings see Zombie (disambiguation. The label was discontinued in 1972.
Following the appointment of Clive Davis as president in 1967 the Columbia label became more of a rock music label, thanks mainly to Davis's fortuitous decision to attend the Monterey International Pop Festival, where he spotted and signed several leading acts including Janis Joplin. Clive Jay Davis (born April 4 1932 in Brooklyn New York is an American Record producer and a leading music industry executive. Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. Rock music is a genre of Popular music often though not necessarily employing Electric guitar, Bass guitar, and Drums. The Monterey International Pop Music Festival was a three-day concert event held June 16 to June 18 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey Janis Lyn Joplin ( January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer songwriter and music arranger from However, Columbia/CBS still had a hand in traditional pop and jazz and one of its key acquisitions during this period was Barbra Streisand. Barbra Streisand (ˈstraɪsænd "STRY-sand" born April 24 1942 is an American Singer, Film and Theatre Actress She released her first solo album on Columbia in 1963 and remains with the label to this day.
Perhaps the most successful Columbia pop act of this period was Simon & Garfunkel. Simon & Garfunkel are an American Singer-songwriter duo of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. The group broke through in 1965 with the Tom Wilson-produced single "The Sound of Silence", which helped to usher in the so-called "folk-rock" boom of the mid-Sixties, and whose valedictory 1970 LP Bridge Over Troubled Water became one of the biggest selling albums ever released up to that time. Thomas Blanchard Wilson Jr ( March 25, 1931 – September 6, 1978) was an American Record producer best known for his work in the Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of Folk music and rock music. Bridge over Troubled Water is the fifth and final studio Album by Simon and Garfunkel.
The 1970s
The CBS Records Group was led very successfully by Clive Davis until his shock dismissal in 1972, after it was discovered that Davis has used CBS funds to finance his personal life, including an expensive bar mitzvah party for his son. In Judaism, Bar Mitzvah ( Hebrew: בר מצוה "one (m to whom the commandments apply" Bat Mitzvah (בת מצוה "one (f He was replaced first by former head Goddard Lieberson then by the colourful and controversial lawyer Walter Yetnikoff, who led the company until his dismissal in 1990. Goddard Lieberson ( April 5, 1911 &ndash May 29, 1977) was the president of Columbia Records from 1956 to 1971 and from 1973 to 1975 Walter Yetnikoff (Born 11 August 1933 Brooklyn New York is a former CBS Records/Sony Music executive famed for his flamboyant business style and for his penchant for living
The structure of US Columbia remained the same until 1980, when it spun off the classical/Broadway unit into a separate imprint, CBS Masterworks Records (now Sony Classical). CBS Masterworks Records was a subsidiary of CBS Records producing classical and spoken-word releases as well as Broadway albums
In the early 1970s, Columbia began recording in a four-channel process called quadraphonic, using the "SQ" standard which used an electronic encoding process that could be decoded by special amplifiers and then played through four speakers, with each speaker placed in the corner of a room. Quadraphonic (or quadrophonic) sound &ndash the most-widely-used early term for what is now called 4 Remarkably, RCA Victor countered with another quadraphonic process which required a special cartridge to play the "discrete" recordings for four-channel playback. Both Columbia and RCA's quadraphonic records could be played on conventional stereo equipment. Although the Columbia process required less equipment and was quite effective, many were confused by the competing systems and sales of both Columbia's matrix recordings and RCA's discrete recordings were disappointing. A few other companies also issued some matrix recordings for a few years. Quadraphonic recording was used by both classical artists, including Leonard Bernstein and Pierre Boulez, and popular artists such as Electric Light Orchestra, Pink Floyd, Barbra Streisand and Carlos Santana. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Pierre Boulez (pjɛʁ buˈlɛz (b Pink Floyd are Barbra Streisand (ˈstraɪsænd "STRY-sand" born April 24 1942 is an American Singer, Film and Theatre Actress For the Costa Rican football player see Carlos Santana (footballer; for the Mexican academic see Carlos Santana Morales. Columbia even released a soundtrack album of the movie version of Funny Girl in quadraphonic. Funny Girl is a Musical film based on the stage musical of the same name. Many of these recordings were later remastered and released in Dolby surround sound on CD.
On May 5, 1979, Columbia Masterworks began digital recording in a recording session of Stravinsky's Petrouchka by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Zubin Mehta, in New York (using 3M's 32-channnel multitrack digital recorder). In digital recording, the analog signal of Video or Sound is converted into a stream of Discrete numbers representing the changes in Air Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (Игорь Фёдорович Стравинский) ( &ndash 6 April 1971 was a Russian born Composer, considered by many to Petrouchka or Petrushka ( Pétrouchka; Петрушка) is a Ballet with music by the Russian Composer The New York Philharmonic is the oldest active Symphony Orchestra in the United States, organized during 1842 WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Zubin Mehta (born April 29 1936 is an Indian conductor 3M Company ( formerly Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company until 2002 is an American multinational conglomerate corporation with a worldwide
The 1980s
In 1988, the CBS Records Group, including the Columbia Records unit, was acquired by Sony, who re-christened the parent division Sony Music Entertainment in 1991. Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) is a multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato Tokyo, Japan, and one of the world's largest Media conglomerates with Sony Music Entertainment is a major global Record label controlled by the Sony Corporation of America, being one of the "big four" record companies As Sony only had a temporary license on the CBS Records name, it then acquired the rights to the Columbia trademarks outside the U. S. , Canada and Japan (Columbia Graphophone) from EMI, which generally had not been used by them since the early 1970s. The EMI Group is a British music company comprising the major record company EMI Music – which operates several labels and is based in Kensington in CBS Masterworks Records was renamed Sony Classical Records. CBS Masterworks Records was a subsidiary of CBS Records producing classical and spoken-word releases as well as Broadway albums Sony Classical Records was started in 1927 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of the American Columbia Records. In December 2006, CBS Corporation revived the CBS Records name for a new minor label closely linked with its television properties. CBS Corporation () is an American Media conglomerate focused on Broadcasting, Publishing, Billboards, and Television This article is about the record label founded in 2006 For the earlier CBS Records label see Columbia Records.
"Magic Notes" or "Walking Eye"?
The acquisition of rights to the Columbia trademarks from EMI (including the "Magic Notes" logo) presented Sony Music with a dilemma of which logo to use. For much of the 1990s, Columbia released their albums without a logo, just the "COLUMBIA" word mark in the Bodoni Classic Bold typeface. Bodoni is the name given to a series of serif typefaces first designed by Giambattista Bodoni (1740–1813 in 1798 [5] Columbia experimented with bringing back the "notes and mike" logo but without the CBS mark on the microphone. That logo is currently used in the "Columbia Jazz" series of jazz releases and reissues. [6] A modified "Magic Notes" is found on the logo for Sony Classical. It was eventually decided that the "Walking Eye" (previously the CBS Records logo outside North America) would be Columbia's logo, with the retained Columbia word mark design, world wide except in Japan where Columbia Music Entertainment has the rights to the Columbia trademark to this day and continues to use the "Magic Notes" logo. In Japan, CBS/Sony Records was renamed Sony Records and continues to use the "Walking Eye" logo.
Sony BMG consolidation
Sony merged its music division with Bertelsmann AG's BMG unit in 2004; the combined company, Sony BMG, continues to use the Columbia Records name and Walking Eye logo in all markets except Japan (where that division is called Sony Records and is still fully owned by Sony). Sony BMG Music Entertainment is a diverse music and entertainment group In Japan, the Columbia trademarks (including a modified Magic Notes logo) is still held by the former Nippon Columbia, now called Columbia Music Entertainment. Columbia Music Entertainment is a Japanese Record label founded in 1910 as the Nipponophone Company Co Currently, Legacy Recordings Sony BMG's catalog division, reissues classic albums for Columbia. Legacy Recordings is Sony Music Entertainment 's catalog division
Affiliated Labels
American Recording Company (ARC)
In February 1979 Maurice White, founding member of the R&B group Earth, Wind and Fire launched the American Recording Company (ARC). Maurice White (born December 19, 1941) is an American soul, funk, and R&B Singer, Songwriter Earth Wind & Fire is an African - American Funk band led by Maurice White that achieved worldwide success in the 1970s American Record Company was a United States Record label, in business from about 1904 to 1908. The Columbia Records distributed label artist roster included successful R&B, pop singer Deniece Williams and R&B trio The Emotions. Deniece "Niecy" Williams (born June 3, 1950) is a Grammy Award -winning American Singer, Songwriter and Record The Emotions are an all female soul, Disco, and R&B singing group of the late-1970s and into the 1980s
Columbia Label Group (UK)
In January 2006, Sony BMG UK split its frontline operations into 2 separate labels. RCA Label Group, mainly dealing with Pop and RnB and Columbia Label Group, mainly dealing with Rock, Dance and Alternative music. Mike Smith is the Managing Director of Columbia Label Group, Mardi Caught is General Manager, Nick Huggett is Head of A&R. Mike Smith started as an A&R man at MCA Publishing as a scout in 1988 where he signed Blur, Levitation and scouted The Smashing Pumpkins
Aware Records
In 1997, Columbia made an affiliation with unsigned artist promotion label Aware Records to distribute Aware's artists music. Events January January 9 - David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert Aware Records is a record label primarily existent to "scout" unsigned acts, to promote their initial album releases and increase general overall exposure Through this venture, Columbia has had success finding highly successful artists. In 2002, Columbia and Aware accepted the option to continue this relationship. This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2002
Columbia Nashville
In 2007, Columbia formed Columbia Nashville and is part of Sony BMG Nashville. Sony BMG Music Entertainment is a diverse music and entertainment group
Previously affiliated labels
- Capricorn Records
- Def Jam Recordings (1985-1993)
- So So Def Recordings (1993-2003)
- Loud Records (1999–2002)
- Chaos Recordings (1993-1995)
- The Work Group (1995-1997; distribution later switched to Epic Records)
- Date Records[7]
Further reading
- Revolution in Sound: A Biography of the Recording Industry. Capricorn Records is an independent Record label which was launched by Phil Walden, Alan Walden, and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Def Jam Recordings is a United States based hip-hop Record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operates as a part of The Island So So Def Recordings is a Record label, based out of Atlanta Georgia and owned by Jermaine Dupri, specializing in Southern hip hop, Loud Records is a subsidiary of SRC Records founded by Steve Rifkind in 1992. Work Records (also known as WORK or The WORK Group) was a Record label run by Sony Music that was the replacement for Sony's Chaos Recordings Little, Brown and Company, 1974. ISBN 0-316-77333-6.
- High Fidelity Magazine, ABC, Inc. April, 1976, "Creating the LP Record. "
- The Columbia Master Book Discography, compiled by Brian Rust. Greenwood Press, 1999.
- Marmorstein, Gary. The Label: The Story of Columbia Records. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press; 2007. ISBN 1-56025-707-5
See also
- List of record labels
- Columbia Records artists
- Sony Music Entertainment
- Sony BMG Music Entertainment
- Alex Steinweiss, the label's Art Director from 1938 to 1943, inventor of the illustrated album cover and the LP sleeve
- Jim Flora, successor to Alex Steinweiss and legendary illustrator for the label during the 1940s
References
- ^ MILESTONES IN COLUMBIA'S HISTORY
- ^ Sony liner notes
External links
- Official site
- Columbia Records (USA) MySpace page
- Columbia Records (UK) MySpace page
- http://www.columbia.co.uk/ Columbia Records (UK)
- See the Profile of Designer Alex Steinweiss
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