Odeon Records

• 1. Founding And Early Innovation

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  Max Straus and Heinrich Zuntz established Odeon Records in Berlin during 1903. They purchased the International Talking Machine Company from Carl Lindström that year. The new label adopted its name from a Paris theater called the Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe. While competitors produced single-sided discs, Odeon introduced double-sided records to the market. This innovation allowed listeners to hear more music on each physical disc. In 1909, Hermann Finck conducted the London Palace Orchestra for a historic release. They recorded Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite across four separate discs. This set may have been the first record album ever created by any company.

• 2. Corporate Acquisitions And Mergers

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  Carl Lindström acquired Odeon between 1910 and 1911. He merged it with other labels like Beka Records and Parlophone into the Carl Lindström A.G. entity. The English Columbia Graphophone Company bought Lindström in 1926. Columbia then merged with Electrola and other brands to form EMI in 1931. Otto Heineman worked for Lindström while living in America when World War I began. He became stuck in New York and founded his own label called Okeh Records in 1915. Okeh later issued foreign recordings under the Odeon name starting in 1919. Universal Music Group purchased most EMI properties in September 2012. Warner Music Group acquired the remainder of EMI rights in February 2013.

• 3. Global Export And Regional Catalogs

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  The Berlin plant exported records to many countries throughout the early twentieth century. About 70% of German Odeon production went abroad during the 1920s and 1930s. National catalogs existed for Greece, Scandinavia, India, all of Arabia, and South America. Other regions included Estonia, Portugal, Romania, Turkey, Hungary, China, and Siam. Blue shellac discs manufactured by the American Record Company appeared around 1905 or 1906. These lateral-cut 10¾-inch 78 discs were made specifically for export only. The business ceased in 1907 after Columbia sued for patent infringement. Odeon sold its Swing Music Series during the 1930s and 1940s. They also issued American jazz records in Germany, Italy, France, and Spain during the 1920s.

• 4. Indian Music Recording Initiatives

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  Odeon recorded over 2,700 titles of Indian music between 1900 and 1940. Engineers visited numerous cities to capture diverse regional sounds during the first phase from 1912 to 1916. Production occurred in Berlin before shipping records back to India. The company established a base in Mumbai and Madras for the second phase spanning 1932 to 1938. World War II broke out and trade embargoes forced operations to wind up. Output included drama songs, speeches, folk music, classical music, and skits. About 600 titles have survived in private collections today. The British Museum digitized some of these records into an online archive.

• 5. Postwar Operations And Brand Revival

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  The label continued as an EMI subsidiary in many non-English-speaking markets after World War II. West Germany, France, Spain, Scandinavia, Japan, and Latin America retained the dome logo design. Universal Music Group retained rights to reissue post-war Japanese, Latin American, German, and select European catalogs. Warner Music Group acquired rights to French, Scandinavian, Spanish, and most other European releases. Universal Music Enterprises manages UMG's Odeon catalogue with Parlophone and WEA International handling WMG's own. Universal Music Germany revived the brand in October 2018. They released the brass pop band Querbeat's third album titled Randale & Hurra that same month.