| Polydor Records | |
|---|---|
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| Parent company | Universal Music Group |
| Founded | 1924, Germany |
| Distributing label | Interscope-Geffen-A&M (US) Polydor Records (Outside US) |
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | UK; US (re-issues and/or domestic distribution of overseas releases - only) |
| Official website | www.polydor.co.uk |
Polydor Records is a record label currently headquartered in the UK, and is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Universal Music Group (UMG is the largest Business group and family of Record labels in the Recording industry. Interscope-Geffen-A&M is an American Record label, owned by Universal Music 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 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Universal Music Group (UMG is the largest Business group and family of Record labels in the Recording industry.
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Company history
Beginnings
Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical Record label. The company has long been known for its high standards of audio fidelity. Its name was first used, as an export label, in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone Company having severed their ties during World War I. Events February 18 - First recordings by Bix Beiderbecke February 24 - An Experiment In Modern Music concert at 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" World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Deutsche Grammophon claimed the rights to the His Master's Voice trademark for Germany, where HMV recordings were released under the Electrola trademark. His Master's Voice, today usually abbreviated to HMV, is a famous Trademark in the music business and for many years was the name of a large record label His Master's Voice, today usually abbreviated to HMV, is a famous Trademark in the music business and for many years was the name of a large record label Electrola was a Record label founded in Berlin in 1925 by the Gramophone Company. A trademark or trade mark, represented by the symbols ™ and ®, or mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual In turn, DGG records exported out of Germany were released on the Polydor label. Deutsche Grammophon lost its rights to the His Master's Voice trademark to EMI and its Electrola label as part of Germany's surrender terms at the end of World War II. 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 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
Polydor became a popular music label in 1946 while the famously yellow Deutsche Grammophon seal became a classical music label. Popular music is Music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and are disseminated by one or more Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 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 No Frenchman, though, could be expected to buy (or pronounce!) a product labelled Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft, so Polydor remained Deutsche Grammophon's export label, including Classical music, in France and the Spanish-speaking world for the remainder of the long-playing era.
In the early 1960s orchestra leader Bert Kaempfert signed unknowns Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers to Polydor. The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 An orchestra is an instrumental ensemble, usually fairly large with string brass woodwind sections and possibly a percussion section as well Bert Kaempfert (born Berthold Kämpfert; 16 October 1923 – 21 June 1980) was a German Orchestra leader and Tony Sheridan (born Anthony Esmond Sheridan McGinnity on May 21, The Beat Brothers were, of course, to become The Beatles, and less than two years later, with a new drummer and new haircuts and now signed to Parlophone, became one of the biggest and most influential groups the world has ever seen. The Beatles were a pop and rock band from Liverpool, England formed in 1960 Parlophone is a Record label, founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company.
Popular German entertainers such as James Last, Bert Kaempfert, Kurt Edelhagen, Caterina Valente and the Kessler Twins appeared on the Polydor label, as well as many French, Spanish and Latin-American figures. James Last (born Hans Last on April 17, 1929 in Bremen) is a German composer and Big band leader Kurt Edelhagen, born 5th June 1920 in Herne died 8th February 1982 in Köln was a major European big band leader throughout the 1950s Caterina Valente (born January 14, 1931 in Paris) is a singer dancer and actress Alice and Ellen Kessler (born August 20 1936 in Nerchau, Germany) are Twins popular in Europe, especially Germany and
PolyGram
In 1972, Polydor merged with giant Philips owned Phonogram Records to create PolyGram in the US. Events January 17 - Highway 51 South in Memphis Tennessee is renamed " Elvis Presley Blvd" January 20 - Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV ( Royal Philips Electronics Inc. Phonogram Records was started in 1962 as a joint venture between Philips Records and Deutsche Grammophon. 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 The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Polydor label continued to run as a subsidiary label under the new company. Polydor later took interest in the Sex Pistols in 1976, but lost to EMI. The Sex Pistols are an English Punk rock band that formed in London in 1975 Events January-February January 5 - Bob Dylan releases Desire January 6 - Peter Frampton 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
Into the 1980s, Polydor continued to do respectable business, in spite of becoming increasingly overshadowed by its PolyGram sister label Mercury Records. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. 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 Polydor took over management of British Decca's pop catalog. Decca Records is a British Record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. A&R manager Frank Neilson was able to score a major top ten hit in March 1981 for the label with "Do The Hucklebuck" by Coast to Coast as well as signing Ian Dury, Billy Fury and the Comsat Angels to the company. Artists and Repertoire ( A&R) is the division of a Record label that is responsible for talent scouting and artist development See also Musical groups established in 1981 Record labels established in 1981 List of 'years in music' Ian Robins Dury ( 12 May 1942 &ndash 27 March 2000) was an English Rock and roll singer songwriter and Bandleader Billy Fury (born Ronald William Wycherley, 17 April 1940 - 28 January, 1983) was an internationally successful British The Comsat Angels were a Post-punk band from Sheffield, England, active from 1978 to 1995 In 1984, the company name was parodied in the rockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap (whose soundtrack album was distributed by Polydor), where "Polymer Records" were the band's record company. See also Events January 21 - " Relax " by Frankie Goes to Hollywood reaches number one in the UK singles chart it The term rockumentary is a Neologism denoting a program on Television or movie documentary about Rock music or its This Is Spın̈al Tap (officially spelled with a non-functional umlaut over the letter 'n' and dotless 'i' is a 1984 mock Rockumentary "Big Bottom" redirects to this page regarding a song title A polymer is a large Molecule ( Macromolecule) composed of repeating Structural units typically connected by Covalent Chemical bonds By the early 1990s, Polydor began to under perform. The 1990s collectively refers to the years between and including 1990 and 1999 PolyGram, subsequently, trimmed most of Polydor's staff and roster, and shifted it to operate under the umbrella of PolyGram Label Group (PLG), a newly constructed 'super label' specifically designed to oversee the operations of PolyGram's lesser performing imprints (including: Island Records, London Records, Atlas Records, Verve Records. Island Records is a Record label that was founded by British record producers in Jamaica. London Records is a Record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin Verve Records is an American Jazz Record label now owned by the Universal Music Group. )
In 1994, as Island Records recovered from its sales slump, PolyGram dissolved most of PLG into it. This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1994. Meanwhile, Polydor Records and Atlas Records merged, briefly called "Polydor/Atlas," and was shifted over to operate under another A&M Records, another PolyGram subsidiary. A&M Records is an American Record label owned by Universal Music Group which operates through the Interscope-Geffen-A&M division In 1995, Polydor/Atlas became simply Polydor Records again. See also 1995 in music (UK Musical groups established in 1995 Record
Twilight years
Over the next few years, Polydor tried to keep itself afloat with new artist signings, new releases, and reissues, but ultimately continued to become more and more dormant. In 1998, PolyGram was purchased by Seagrams and absorbed into its 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. During the consolidation of these two music giants, Polydor's US operations were dismantled, while its overseas branch remained intact with its records continuing to be distributed domestically through A&M and its new partner Interscope Records. However, North American re-issues of pre-1998 Polydor releases are handled through Universal Records and Mercury Records. 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 [1] Today, in America, the Polydor Records name and logo is mostly used on reissues of older material from its 1960s and 1970s heyday.
Polydor UK
Though Polydor's American branch is defunct, in the United Kingdom, however, Polydor continues to sign chart-topping acts and remains one of the strongest imprints in the country — with artists such as Klaxons, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, James Morrison, Take That and Kaiser Chiefs. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Klaxons are a English Indie rock / Dance punk band based in London Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is a multi- platinum selling British pop Singer and Songwriter James or Jim Morrison (or Morison) is the name of several persons In music: James Morrison (fiddler (1893-1947 Irish Take That are an English pop Musical group consisting of members Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Kaiser Chiefs are an English Indie rock band who formed in 1997 It also acts as the UK label for American-based acts under Interscope-Geffen-A&M like Eminem and Gwen Stefani. Interscope-Geffen-A&M is an American Record label, owned by Universal Music Group. Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17 1972 known as Slim Shady and his primary Stage name Eminem, is an Academy Award -winning Gwen Renée Stefani (born October 3 1969 (ˈgwÉ›n stɛˈfÉ‘Ëni is an American recording artist and Fashion designer Stefani fronts the rock band No Doubt
In Spring 2006, Polydor launched Fascination Records, a music label dedicated to pop music. Fascination Records is a Polydor sub-label that launched in spring 2006. Both Girls Aloud and Sophie Ellis-Bextor transferred to the new label. Girls Aloud are a British Girl group created by ITV1 Talent show Popstars The Rivals in 2002 Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is a multi- platinum selling British pop Singer and Songwriter
See also
External links
This is a list of artists that are currently or once were signed to Polydor Records. 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 alsoDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic