Curated category
Pop record labels
- Capitol RecordsCapitol Records was born on a golf course. Songwriter Johnny Mercer floated the idea of starting a record company while out on the links with Harold Arlen…
- Interscope RecordsJimmy Iovine stood in a Westwood office building on 10900 Wilshire Boulevard in late 1990 and declared that music was about to change.
- Sire RecordsSire Records began in 1966 as Sire Productions. Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer each invested ten thousand dollars to launch the company.
- ParlophoneCarl Lindström Company founded Parlophon in Germany during 1896. The name appeared on gramophones before the firm began pressing records of its own.
- Columbia RecordsColumbia Records was born on the 15th of January, 1889, in Washington, D.C., making it the oldest surviving brand name in the recorded sound business.
- Polydor RecordsPolydor Records was born not in a recording studio, but in a music box factory. The firm that would become Polydor was founded in 1887 in Leipzig by Gustav…
- King Records (Japan)January 1931 marked the birth of King Records as a division within the Japanese publisher Kodansha. The label operated under this parent company for nearly…
- Capitol Music GroupCapitol Music Group sits at the center of one of the most consequential ownership chains in recorded music. A single merger in February 2007 brought Capitol…
- Apple RecordsApple Records was founded in 1968 by the four members of the Beatles, and its origin story begins with a painting. Paul McCartney had become an admirer of…
- MGM RecordsIn 1946, the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio launched MGM Records to release soundtrack recordings from their musical films.
- United Artists RecordsUnited Artists Records began in 1957 with a single, practical purpose: get movie music onto shelves. Max E. Youngstein of United Artists founded the label to…
- Swan RecordsSwan Records opened its doors in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during 1957. Bob Crewe and Frank Slay built the company as staff producers and writers.