| PolyGram | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Parent company | Philips |
| Founded | 1945 |
| Status | In 1998, it was sold to Seagram and made part of Universal Music Group |
PolyGram was the name from 1972 of the major label recording company started by Philips as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV ( Royal Philips Electronics Inc. Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) For the rapper Seagram, see Seagram Miller The Seagram Company Ltd Universal Music Group (UMG is the largest Business group and family of Record labels in the Recording industry. Events January 17 - Highway 51 South in Memphis Tennessee is renamed " Elvis Presley Blvd" January 20 - In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV ( Royal Philips Electronics Inc. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar In 1998, it was sold to Seagram and made part of Universal Music Group. Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) For the rapper Seagram, see Seagram Miller The Seagram Company Ltd Universal Music Group (UMG is the largest Business group and family of Record labels in the Recording industry.
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Hollandsche Decca Distributie (HDD), 1929-1950
In 1929, Decca Records (London) licensed record shop owner H. Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Decca Records is a British Record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. W. van Zoelen as a distributor in the Netherlands. By 1931, his company Hollandsche Decca Distributie (HDD) had become exclusive Decca distributor for all of the Netherlands and its colonies. Year 1931 ( MCMXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Over the course of the 1930s, HDD put together its own facilities for A&R, recording and manufacture.
HDD was doing good business during World War II, because of the absence of American and British competition. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Van Zoelen wanted to sell to Philips so that HDD would have suitable backing when the competition returned, and so Philips took the opportunity to buy HDD in 1942. Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV ( Royal Philips Electronics Inc. Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
At this time, most large recording companies manufactured both gramophones and records; Philips CEO Anton Philips had noticed that it was risky to make gramophones without an interest in music recording and record manufacture, and that Radio Corporation of America (RCA) had merged with the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1929 for this reason. Anton Frederik Philips ( March 14, 1874 – October 7, 1951) co-founded Royal Philips Electronics N RCA Corporation, founded as Radio Corporation of America, was an electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986 Victrola redirects here For other uses see Victrola (disambiguation The Victor Talking Machine Company ( 1901 – 1929 Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Research was already going on in Philips' labs on magnetic tape and long-playing records, and a record company could support eventual new formats, particularly as other record companies were notably unenthusiastic about new formats.
After the war, Philip built a large factory in Doetinchem to produce 78rpm records. Doetinchem ( Low German: Deutekem is a city and municipality in the east of the Netherlands.
Philips Phonografische Industrie (PPI), 1950-1962
In the 1940s, the record business was spread out within Philips — research in the Eindhoven labs, development elsewhere in Eindhoven, recording in Hilversum, manufacturing in Doetinchem, distribution from Amsterdam and exports from Eindhoven. Eindhoven ( is a Municipality and a city located in the province of Noord-Brabant in the south of the Netherlands, originally at the confluence is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Doetinchem ( Low German: Deutekem is a city and municipality in the east of the Netherlands. Amsterdam (pronounced) is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west During the late 1940s, Philips combined its various music businesses into Philips Phonografische Industrie (PPI), a wholly owned subsidiary.
PPI's early growth was based on alliances. A merger was first proposed with Decca of London in late 1945, but was rejected by Edward Lewis, Decca's owner. (PolyGram finally acquired Decca in 1979. )
In the early 1950s, Philips set itself the goal of making PPI the largest record company in Europe.
PPI's second attempt at a merger was with Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft (DGG). Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical Record label. The company has long been known for its high standards of audio fidelity. DGG, owned by Siemens AG and well-known for its classical repertoire, had been the German licensee for Decca from 1935. Shortly after PPI was founded it had made a formal alliance with DGG to manufacture each others' records, coordinate releases and not to poach each others' artists or bid against each other for new talent. PPI and DGG finally merged in 1962.
The alliance with DGG still left PPI without repertoire in Britain or the US. But in 1951, after Columbia had failed to renew its international distribution agreement with EMI, PPI agreed to distribute Columbia recordings outside the US and have Columbia distribute its recordings inside the US. Columbia Records is an American Record label founded in 1888 Columbia is the oldest surviving Brand name in pre-recorded sound being the first record company 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 This agreement ran until 1961, when Columbia set up its own European network and PPI set out to make acquisitions in the US beginning with Mercury Records in 1962. Mercury Records is a Record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Music Group in the US and are both subsidiaries of
PPI built or bought factories in smaller countries. In 1962, PPI had a large factory in Baarn and factories in France, Britain, Denmark, Norway, Spain, Italy, Egypt, Nigeria and Brazil. Baarn is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht.
PPI played an important role in the introduction of the long-playing vinyl record to Europe. Columbia introduced their LP record in 1948 and Philips presented its first LP at a record retailers' convention in 1949. A gramophone Philips' commitment to LP technology was an important factor in its 1951-1961 deal with Columbia.
GPG and PolyGram, 1962-1980
In 1962, PPI and DGG formed the Gramophon-Philips Group (GPG), with Philips taking a 50% share in DGG and Siemens a 50% share in PPI. In 1972 the companies formally merged to form PolyGram, of which Philips and Siemens each owned 50%. Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In 1977 both organisations merged operationally, integrating the recording, manufacturing, distribution and marketing into a single organisation. Also 1977 (album by Ash. Year 1977 ( MCMLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays
The various record labels within PolyGram continued to operate separately. PolyGram gave its labels, as A&R organisations, great autonomy.
GPG needed to move into the US and UK markets, and did so by a process of acquisition: Mercury/Smash/Wing (US) in 1962, RSO (UK) in 1967, MGM Records and Verve (US) in 1972, Casablanca (US) in 1977, Pickwick in 1978, and Decca (UK) in 1980. Mercury Records is a Record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Music Group in the US and are both subsidiaries of Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. RSO Records was a Record label, formed by Rock and roll and Musical theatre impresario Robert Stigwood in 1973 Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. MGM Records was a Record label started by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Film studio in 1946 Verve Records is an American Jazz Record label now owned by the Universal Music Group. Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. This article is about Casablanca the record label For other uses please see Casablanca (disambiguation. Also 1977 (album by Ash. Year 1977 ( MCMLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays Decca Records is a British Record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) PolyGram acquired United Distribution Corporation (UDC) in 1973 and signed distribution deals with MCA and 20th Century Records in 1976. Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. MCA Inc (or Music Corporation of America) was an American Corporation in the music and television businesses 20th Century Records, also known as 20th Fox Records and 20th Century-Fox Records, began in 1958 was a subsidiary of film studio 20th Century Fox. Year 1976 ( MCMLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Philips had been at work on a new consumer magnetic tape format for music. Magnetic tape is a medium for Magnetic recording generally consisting of a thin magnetizable coating on a long and narrow strip of Plastic. The Philips compact cassette came out in 1963. The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a Magnetic tape sound Year 1963 ( MCMLXIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. It was small, played longer than an LP and was robust. In 1965 the cassette accounted for 3% of revenues, growing in 1968 to 8% and in 1970 to 10. Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1970 ( MCMLXX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 6%.
In the late 1960s and through the 1970s, GPG/PolyGram diversified into film and television production and home video. RSO's successes included Saturday Night Fever and Grease. Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 film starring John Travolta as Tony Manero a troubled Brooklyn youth whose weekend activities are dominated Grease is a film directed by Randal Kleiser and based on Jim Jacobs ' and Warren Casey 's musical, Grease PolyGram's highly successful marketing during the disco craze included the Casablanca film Thank God It's Friday and its associated soundtrack. Disco is a Genre of dance-oriented music whose origins are hard to define Thank God It's Friday is a 1978 Film directed by Robert Klane and produced by Motown Productions and Casablanca Filmworks for Columbia During the boom in disco, PolyGram's US market share had gone from 5% to 20%. This can also be attributed to multi-million selling LPs & 45s by The Bee Gees, Donna Summer, The Village People, Andy Gibb, Kool and The Gang and rock act Kiss. The Bee Gees were a singing trio of brothers — Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. Donna Summer (born LaDonna Adrian Gaines December 31, 1948) is an American Singer-songwriter and Musician who gained Village People are a concept Disco group formed in the late 1970s Andy Gibb ( Manchester, 5 March 1958 – Oxford, 10 March 1988 was an English Singer and Teen idol, and the youngest brother Kool & the Gang are a highly successful American Jazz / R&B / soul / Funk / Disco group Kiss (also typeset as KISS) is an American rock band formed in New York City in December 1972 For a short while, it was the world's largest record company.
Reorganisation, 1980-1998
However, a crisis was looming. Before 1978, with the acquisition of UDC, the distribution organisation was too large and PolyGram was making losses. Year 1978 ( MCMLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar) When US operations were running at full capacity, PolyGram expanded aggressively, and would press large quantities of records without knowing the demand. In late 1979, the disco boom busted, leaving the company not only with an underutilised distribution network but with overoptimistic product orders and profligate labels. Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) For example, Casablanca was notable for management spending on luxury cars and cocaine. Cocaine ( benzoylmethyl ecgonine) is a Crystalline Tropane Alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the Coca plant From 1980 onwards, PolyGram was running up tremendous losses. Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) Legal documents put the company's total losses at not less than US$220 million.
Another factor was the massive failure of the heavily over-promoted film version of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band" . Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the British rock band The Beatles. The film, which starred the then-hot Bee Gees and Peter Frampton, as well as Beatle covers by them and other artists such as Aerosmith, Billy Preston, and Earth, Wind, and Fire, was highly anticipated to surpass the success of both the "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease" soundtracks, mostly due to the film's popular music stars. Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950 in Beckenham, Kent) is an English Musician, best known today for his solo In fact, the soundtrack LP, based on only advance orders, was released triple platinum. However, the movie was released to blistering reviews and died a quick death at the box office. This resulted in the failure of the soundtrack LP as well. In turn, record dealers flooded Polygram with returned LPs, and it was rumoured that many of the returns were bootlegged copies. The losses experienced by the massive failure of the movie nearly wiped out the profits the company had made on both "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease". When the disco craze blew up in 1979, the company's fates were sealed. The end of the disco craze also resulted in a huge drop in records sales for both The Bee Gees and Casablanca's Village People. Village People are a concept Disco group formed in the late 1970s The company also experienced losses by the defection of Casablanca's Donna Summer to newly formed Geffen as well as the dropping of Andy Gibb from the label, whose personal problems with cocaine and alcohol began to affect his recording career. Donna Summer (born LaDonna Adrian Gaines December 31, 1948) is an American Singer-songwriter and Musician who gained Summer and The Bee Gees also had legal disputes with their labels, which further complicated matters.
In 1983, Philips manager Jan Timmer was appointed CEO. Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) He cut the workforce from 13,000 to 7,000, reduced PolyGram's LP and cassette plants from eighteen to five and decreased the company's dependence on superstars by spreading the repertoire across different genres and nurturing national and regional talent. By 1985, PolyGram was profitable once more. Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) Its roster of labels by this time included: Polydor, Mercury, Wing, Fontana, Vertigo, London, FFRR, Casablanca, RSO, De-Lite, Riva, Threshold, Tin Pan, Atlanta Artists, and Total Experience.
In 1982, Polygram purchases 20th Century Fox Records from Rupert Murdoch who had recently purchased all of 20th Century Fox, and was not interested in keeping the record company. The assets of the former 20th Century Fox Records were consolidated with the company's Casablanca label.
After an attempted 1983 merger with Warner Music failed, Philips bought 40% of PolyGram from Siemens, and in 1987 the remaining 10%. Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) Warner Music Group (WMG is the third-largest of the "big four" major record labels, the others being Sony BMG, EMI, and Universal Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar)
The compact disc, invented by Philips and Sony, helped greatly in boosting the company's sales and market share. A Compact Disc (also known as a CD) is an Optical disc used to store digital data, originally developed for storing digital audio is a multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato Tokyo, Japan, and one of the world's largest Media conglomerates with PolyGram's strength in classical music helped greatly, as many of the CD's early adopters were classical music lovers. Total US sales of CDs were 1 million in 1983, 334 million in 1990 and 943 million in 2000. Total UK sales were 300,000 in 1983, 51 million in 1990 and 202 million in 2000. The CD increased PolyGram's profit margin from 4-6% in the mid-1980s to 7-9% by the early 1990s. As well, videos were distributed by PolyGram Video.
In 1989, Philips floated 16% of PolyGram on the Amsterdam stock exchange, valuing the whole company at $5. 6 billion. PolyGram embarked on a new program of acquisitions, including A&M and Island Records in 1989, Swedish company Polar Music which held the rights to the ABBA catalogue, Motown in 1993, Def Jam in 1994 and Rodven (Venezuela) in 1995. A&M Records is an American Record label owned by Universal Music Group which operates through the Interscope-Geffen-A&M division Island Records is a Record label that was founded by British record producers in Jamaica. Polar Music is a Swedish Record company founded in 1963 by Stig Anderson and his friend Bengt Bernhag "Motown" redirects here For the city see Detroit Michigan. 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 Rodven Records was a Record label that was acquired by PolyGram in 1995.
In 1998, Philips sold PolyGram to Seagram and it was merged into Universal Music Group. For the rapper Seagram, see Seagram Miller The Seagram Company Ltd Universal Music Group (UMG is the largest Business group and family of Record labels in the Recording industry.
See also
Sources and references
- The Making Of A Music Multinational: The International Strategy of PolyGram, 1945-1988 (PDF) by Dr Gerben Bakker, Dept. This is a list of notable Record labels Due to the large number of entries the list has been divided by the first character of the label's name See also PolyGram Filmed Entertainment ( PFE) (aka PolyGram Films and PolyGram Pictures) was a London -based Anglo - Dutch Chocolate City Records was a Record label subsidiary of Casablanca Records & Filmworks. of Accounting, Finance and Management, University of Essex. The University of Essex is a British Campus university located near the town of Colchester, England
External links
- PolyGram at last.fm. Lastfm is a UK -based Internet radio and Music Community website, founded in 2002
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