58-602: 51°30′30″N 0°25′52″W / 51.508397°N 0.431162°W / 51.508397; -0.431162 The EMI Archive Trust is a charity which was established in 1996 to hold and maintain the archives of the EMI company and its parent companies such as the Gramophone Company . The archives are located in Hayes , where EMI had its main factories, and contain many antique recordings. This article relating to
116-545: A British subject and, in 1924, he became Marconi's joint general manager. He was recruited by the Columbia Graphophone Company in 1928 as general manager. Early in 1931, Columbia and the Gramophone Company merged and became EMI and he became director of research at their new Central Research Laboratories in Hayes, Hillingdon . He was Blumlein's supervisor there when Blumlein invented stereophonic sound . Shoenberg's team applied in 1932 for
174-724: A Sony/ATV consortium for around $ 2.2 billion. Other members of the Sony consortium include the estate of Michael Jackson , the Blackstone Group , and the Abu Dhabi –owned Mubadala Development Company . EMI's locations in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada were all disassembled to repay debt, but the primary head office located outside those countries is still functional. EMI Music Publishing
232-454: A deal licensing EMI's catalogue in a digital format for their online streaming music service. This was the first time EMI had licensed any of its catalogue to a streaming music website. Pop star Robbie Williams signed a six-album deal in 2002 paying him over £80 million ($ 157 million), which was not only the biggest recording contract in British music history at the time, but also
290-717: A loss of £260 million in 2006/2007, in August 2007 EMI was acquired by Terra Firma Capital Partners for £4.2 billion. Following the transition, several artists including Radiohead left EMI, while other artists such as Paul McCartney had left ahead of the takeover. At the same time, the Rolling Stones signed a one-album deal with Interscope Records / Universal Music Group outside its contract with EMI, which expired in February 2008, and then in July 2008 signed
348-520: A museum in the United Kingdom is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries , also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI ) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its acquisition by Universal Music in 2012, it
406-442: A new long-term deal with Universal Music Group . The Terra Firma takeover was also reported to have been the catalyst behind a lawsuit filed by Pink Floyd over unpaid royalties. In January 2011 Pink Floyd signed a new global agreement with EMI. Around the same time, Guy Hands , CEO of Terra Firma Capital Partners, came to EMI with restructuring plans to cut between 1,500 and 2,000 jobs and to reduce costs by £200 million
464-517: A patent for a new device they dubbed "the Emitron", which formed the heart of the television cameras they designed for the BBC . In 1934, EMI formed a new company with Marconi with a research team led by Shoenberg which, with access to patents developed by Vladimir Zworykin and RCA , made significant contributions to the development of television including developing the electronic Marconi-EMI system ,
522-477: A punitive harassment meant to scare other musicians. The band's troubles with the label resonate through their third studio album This Is War (2009) and were the subject of the 2012 documentary Artifact . In 2008, EMI withdrew from the South-East Asian market entirely, forcing its large roster of acts to search out contracts with other unaffiliated labels. As a result, the South-East Asian market
580-537: A year. As a result, the UK chief executive Tony Wadsworth left EMI after 25 years in January 2008. The cuts were planned to take effect over the year 2008, and would affect up to a third of EMI's 5,500 staff. Thirty Seconds to Mars tried to exit their contract with EMI following the layoff of its staff and due to unpaid royalties, prompting the label to file a lawsuit for $ 30 million citing breach of contract. The suit
638-534: Is now operated exclusively throughout the world by Sony Music Entertainment; except in Japan where the trade mark is owned by Columbia Music Entertainment . EMI released its first LPs in 1952 and its first stereophonic recordings in 1955 (first on reel-to-reel tape and then LPs, beginning in 1958). In 1957, to replace the loss of its long-established licensing arrangements with RCA Victor and Columbia Records (Columbia USA cut its ties with EMI in 1951), EMI entered
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#1732790562970696-907: Is now owned by Sony Music Publishing , the music publishing division of Sony Music which bought another 70% stake in EMI Music Publishing. Electric and Musical Industries Ltd was formed in March 1931 by the merger of the Columbia Graphophone Company and the Gramophone Company , with its " His Master's Voice " record label, firms that have a history extending back to the origins of recorded sound . The new vertically integrated company produced sound recordings as well as recording and playback equipment. The company's gramophone manufacturing led to 40 years of success with larger-scale electronics and electrical engineering . In October 1979, EMI merged with Thorn Electrical Industries to create Thorn EMI . On 16 August 1996, Thorn EMI shareholders voted in favour of demerging Thorn from EMI again:
754-453: The BBC 's second television transmitter at Sutton Coldfield. It also manufactured broadcast television cameras for British television production companies as well as for the BBC. The commercial television ITV companies also used them alongside cameras made by Pye and Marconi . Their best-remembered piece of broadcast television equipment was the EMI 2001 colour television camera, which became
812-551: The Choir of King's College, Cambridge . During the era of the long-playing record (LP), very few American and Canadian orchestras had their principal recording contracts with EMI, one notable exception being that of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra , especially during the tenure of William Steinberg . From the late 1950s to the early 1970s, the company enjoyed huge success in the popular music field under
870-754: The EMI Laboratories in Hayes, Hillingdon developed radar equipment (including the receiver section of the British Army's GL-II anti-aircraft fire-control radar), microwave devices such as the reflex klystron oscillator (having played a crucial role in the development of early production types following on from the British Admiralty Signal School's pioneering NR89, the so-called "Sutton tube"), electro-optic devices such as infra-red image converters, and eventually guided missiles employing analogue computers. The company
928-630: The OKeh label. RCA sold its stake in EMI in 1935, but due to its 1929 takeover of Victor, RCA retained the North and South American rights to the " His Master's Voice " trademark. In other countries, the Nipper logo was used by the EMI subsidiary label HMV, even though the "His Master's Voice" slogan itself would be retained by RCA along with the logo. In 1938 ARC-Brunswick was taken over by CBS , which then sold
986-547: The American Brunswick label to American Decca Records , which along with its other properties, Vocalion Records and Aeolian Vocalion Records, used it as a subsidiary budget label afterward. CBS then operated Columbia as its flagship label in both the United States and Canada. EMI retained the rights to the Columbia name in most other territories including the UK, Australia and New Zealand. It continued to operate
1044-589: The American market by acquiring 96% of the stock for Capitol Records USA. From 1960 to 1995 their "EMI House" corporate headquarters was located at 20 Manchester Square London, England, the stairwell from which was featured on the cover of the Beatles' Please Please Me album. In addition, an unused shot from the Please Please Me photo session, featuring the boys in short hair and cleancut attire,
1102-667: The Beatles into the EMI fold. When the Gramophone Company merged with the Columbia Graphophone Company (including Columbia's subsidiary label Parlophone ) in 1931, the new Anglo-American group was incorporated as Electric & Musical Industries Limited. At this point, the Radio Corporation of America had a majority shareholding in the new company due to RCA purchasing the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1929. Victor owned 50% of
1160-516: The British affiliated Gramophone Company, giving RCA chairman David Sarnoff a seat on the EMI board. However, EMI was subsequently forced to sell Columbia USA due to anti-trust action taken by its American competitors. By this time the record industry had been hit hard by the Depression and in 1934 a much-diminished Columbia USA was purchased for just US$ 70,500 by ARC-BRC ( American Record Corporation –Brunswick Record Company), which also acquired
1218-554: The British physicist David Shoenberg and the psychiatrist Elisabeth Shoenberg. In 1905, Shoenberg was employed to design and install the earliest wireless stations in Russia. However, in 1914, the family emigrated to London so that Isaac could study for a doctoral degree at Imperial College . The outbreak of war led him to abandon his studies, and he joined the Marconi Wireless and Telegraph Company . In 1919, he became
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#17327905629701276-601: The Christian music market by acquiring Sparrow Records . Due to the increasing divergence of business models, Thorn EMI shareholders voted in favour of demerger proposals on 16 August 1996. The resulting media company was now known as EMI Group PLC. In 1997, EMI Records USA was folded into both Virgin and Capitol. Since the 1930s, the Pathé Records label headquartered in Shanghai , China had been published under
1334-518: The EMI banner and since then, EMI had also been the dominant label in the cantopop market throughout Greater China until the genre's decline in the mid-1980s. Between the years 2004–2006, EMI then completely and totally divested itself from the c-pop market, and after that, all Hong Kong music artists previously associated with EMI had their music published by Gold Label , a concern unaffiliated with EMI and with which EMI did not yet hold any interest. On 21 November 2000, Streamwaves and EMI signed
1392-563: The EMI imprint. On 1 July 1973 the Gramophone Company subsidiary (The Gramophone Co. Ltd.) was renamed EMI Records Ltd as well, and in 1978, EMI launched EMI America Records as its second label in the United States after Capitol. EMI Music Worldwide was also formed in 1978 with Bhaskar Menon as chairman and CEO. In February 1979, EMI Ltd acquired United Artists Records and with it their subsidiary labels Liberty Records and Imperial Records . Eight months later, Thorn Electrical Industries merged with EMI Ltd. to form Thorn EMI . Sometime in
1450-519: The Japanese EMI branch, remains unchanged from the reflection of Toshiba 's divestiture to the business by EMI buying the whole branch way back July 2007, making it a full subsidiary. In July 2009, there were reports that EMI would not sell CDs to independent album retailers in a bid to cut costs, but in fact only a handful of small physical retailers were affected. In February 2010, EMI Group reported pre-tax losses of £1.75 billion for
1508-630: The Middle East and Africa as well as in Canada , Russia , India , China , Japan , Australia and New Zealand . Gramophone's (later EMI's) Australian and New Zealand subsidiaries dominated the popular music industries in those countries across the Asia-Pacific region from the 1920s until the 1960s, when other locally owned labels (such as Festival Records ) began to challenge the near monopoly of EMI. Over 150,000 78-rpm recordings from around
1566-562: The UK's first commercially available all- transistor computer, was developed at EMI's Central Research Laboratories in Hayes under the leadership of Godfrey Hounsfield , an electrical engineer at EMI. In the early 1970s, with financial support by the UK Department of Health and Social Security as well as EMI research investment, Hounsfield developed the first CT scanner , a device which revolutionised medical imaging . In 1973 EMI
1624-548: The company became EMI Group plc, and the electronics and rentals divisions were divested as Thorn plc . The company broke up in 2012. In 1934, an EMI research team led by Sir Isaac Shoenberg developed the electronic Marconi-EMI system for television broadcasting, which quickly replaced Baird's electro-mechanical system following its introduction in 1936. After the Second World War , EMI resumed its involvement in making broadcasting equipment, notably providing
1682-725: The iTunes Plus category). Tracks were to cost $ 1.29/€1.29/£0.99. Legacy tracks with FairPlay DRM would still be available for $ 0.99/€0.99/£0.79 – albeit with lower quality sound and DRM restrictions still in place. Users would be able to 'upgrade' the EMI tracks that they had already bought for $ 0.30/€0.30/£0.20. Albums were also to be available at the same price as their lower quality, DRM counterparts and music videos from EMI would also be DRM-free. The higher-quality, DRM-free files became available worldwide on iTunes on 30 May 2007, and were expected to appear on other music download services soon thereafter. Following this decision, Universal Music Group also announced sales of DRM-free music (which
1740-596: The label with moderate success until 1973, when it was retired and replaced by the EMI Records imprint, making records with the Columbia Records label manufactured outside North America between 1972 and 1992 rare. In 1990, following a series of major takeovers that saw CBS Records acquired by the Sony Corporation of Japan, EMI sold its remaining rights to the Columbia name to Sony and the label
1798-523: The label, but that these audits rarely result in legal action. A legal settlement was announced on 12 April 2007 and terms were undisclosed. On 2 April 2007, EMI announced it would be releasing its music in DRM -free formats. These were to be issued in AAC format, which gave higher quality for the same bitrate compared with the ubiquitous MP3 format. The music would be distributed via Apple's iTunes Store (under
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1856-628: The late 1980s, EMI America merged with sister label Manhattan Records , founded in 1984, becoming EMI Manhattan and eventually EMI USA when Capitol absorbed it in 1989. Also in 1989, Thorn EMI bought a 50% interest in Chrysalis Records , completing the buyout two years later. Six months after completing the buyout of Chrysalis, Thorn EMI bought Virgin Records from Richard Branson in one of its highest-profile and most expensive acquisitions in record music history. In 1992, Thorn EMI entered
1914-431: The mainstay of much of the British television industry from the end of the 1960s until the early 1990s. Exports of this piece of equipment were low, however, and EMI left this area of product manufacture. EMI engineer Alan Blumlein received a patent for the invention of stereophonic sound in 1931. He was killed in 1942 whilst conducting flight trials on an experimental H2S radar set. During and after World War II ,
1972-601: The management of Sir Joseph Lockwood . The strong combination of EMI and its subsidiary labels (including Parlophone , HMV , Columbia and Capitol Records ) along with a roster of stellar groups such as the Hollies , the Shadows , the Beach Boys and the Beatles along with hit solo performers such as Frank Sinatra , Cliff Richard , and Nat 'King' Cole , made EMI the best-known and most successful recording company in
2030-403: The original Emitron and iconoscope tubes and, in some cases, this ratio was considerably greater. The same year, the British government set up a committee (the "Television Committee") to advise on the future of TV broadcasting. The committee recommended that a "high definition" service (defined by them as being a system of 240 lines or more) to be run by the BBC be established. The recommendation
2088-512: The resulting BBC Television Service from its Alexandra Palace site began on 2 November 1936 , at first time-sharing broadcasts with the 240-line Baird system. However, in January 1937, after three months of trials, the Baird system was abandoned in favour of exclusive broadcasting with the 405-line Marconi-EMI system on VHF , which was more reliable and visibly superior. This was the world's first regular high-definition television service and became
2146-437: The second biggest in music history behind that of Michael Jackson. Apple Records , the record label representing The Beatles , launched a suit against EMI for non-payment of royalties on 15 December 2005. The suit alleged that EMI had withheld $ 50 million from the record label; however, an EMI spokesman noted that audits of record label accounts are not that unusual, confirming at least two hundred such audits performed on
2204-678: The standard for all British TV broadcasts until the 1960s. It was later adopted by other TV organisations around the world. The Emitron was used for the first outside broadcast , the televising of the Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth by the BBC in May 1937. In 1955, Schoenberg was appointed to the board of EMI. He was awarded the IET Faraday Medal from the British Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1954 and
2262-513: The world are held in EMI's temperature-controlled archive in Hayes, some of which have been released on CD since 2008 by Honest Jon's Records . In 1931, the year the company was formed, it opened the legendary recording studios at London 's Abbey Road . During the 1930s and 1940s, its roster of artists included Arturo Toscanini , Sir Edward Elgar , and Otto Klemperer , among many others. During this time EMI appointed its first A&R managers. These included George Martin , who later brought
2320-519: The world at that time. In 1967, while shifting their focus on pop and rock music roster to Columbia and Parlophone, EMI converted HMV solely to a classical music label exclusively. For the emerging progressive rock genre including Pink Floyd , who had debuted on Columbia, EMI established a new subsidiary label, Harvest Records , two years later. In 1971, Electric & Musical Industries changed its name to EMI Ltd. and on 1 January 1973 EMI phased out most of its heritage labels and replacing them with
2378-439: The world's first electronic high-definition television system. Shoenberg's team analysed how the iconoscope (or Emitron) produces an electronic signal and concluded that its real efficiency was only about 5% of the theoretical maximum. They solved this problem by developing and patenting in 1934 two new camera tubes dubbed super-Emitron and CPS Emitron . The super-Emitron was between ten and fifteen times more sensitive than
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2436-624: The world. As the head of research at EMI, Schoenberg was Alan Blumlein 's supervisor when Blumlein invented stereophonic sound in 1931. Schoenberg was awarded the IET Faraday Medal by the British Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1954 and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1962. Shoenberg was born on 1 March 1880 to Jewish parents in Pinsk , Imperial Russia (now Belarus) and studied mathematics and electricity at Kiev Polytechnic Institute . He met his wife, Esther Aisenstein, while they both studied at Kiev. Their children included
2494-442: The year ended March 2009, including write-downs on the value of its music catalogue. In addition, KPMG issued a going concern warning on the holding company's accounts regarding an ability to remain solvent. Citigroup (which held $ 4 billion in debt) took 100% ownership of EMI Group from Terra Firma Capital Partners on 1 February 2011, writing off £2.2 billion of debt and reducing EMI's debt load by 65%. The group
2552-537: Was a British electronic engineer born in Belarus who was best known for his role in the history of television. He was the head of the EMI research team that developed the 405-line (Marconi-EMI system), the first fully electronic television system to be used in regular broadcasting when it was introduced with the BBC Television Service in 1936. It was later adopted by other TV organizations around
2610-688: Was a joint venture between EMI itself and Pied Piper Records Corporation. The physical audio and video products of the label have been distributed in South-East Asia by Warner Music Group since December 2008, while new EMI releases in China and Taiwan, were distributed under Gold Typhoon which was previously known as EMI Music China and EMI Music Taiwan, respectively. Meanwhile, the Korean branch of EMI (known as EMI Korea Limited) had its physical releases distributed by Warner Music Korea. EMI Music Japan ,
2668-494: Was accepted and tenders were sought from industry. Two tenders were received: one from the Baird company offering a 240-line mechanical system, and the other from EMI offering a 405-line all-electronic one employing the Emitron. The Television Committee advised that they were unable to choose between the two systems and that both tenders should be accepted, the two systems to be run together for an experimental period. Broadcasting of
2726-545: Was also for many years an internationally respected manufacturer of photomultipliers . This part of the business was transferred to Thorn as part of Thorn-EMI, then later became the independent concern Electron Tubes Ltd. The EMI Electronic Business Machine, a valve and magnetic drum memory computer, was built in the 1950s to process the British Motor Corporation payroll. In 1958 the EMIDEC 1100 ,
2784-668: Was awarded a prestigious Queen's Award for Technological Innovation for what was then called the EMI scanner , and in 1979 Hounsfield won the Nobel Prize for his accomplishment. After brief, but brilliant, success in the medical imaging field, EMI's manufacturing activities were sold off to other companies, notably Thorn (see Thorn EMI ). Subsequently, development and manufacturing activities were sold off to other companies and work moved to other towns such as Crawley and Wells. Emihus Electronics, based in Glenrothes , Scotland,
2842-426: Was described as an experiment). In May 2006, EMI attempted to buy Warner Music Group , which would have reduced the world's four largest record companies ( Big Four ) to three; however, the bid was rejected. Warner Music Group launched a Pac-Man defense , offering to buy EMI. EMI rejected the $ 4.6 billion offer. After a decline in the British market share from 16% to 9%, and the announcement that it had sustained
2900-500: Was entitled Let It Be . The photo was used instead for the cover of the Beatles' second greatest-hits double-disc compilation entitled 1967–1970 (also known as "The Blue Album"). (The two compilations were released in 1973.) EMI's classical artists of the period were largely limited to the prestigious British and European orchestras, such as the Philharmonia Orchestra and London Symphony Orchestra as well as
2958-526: Was later settled following a defence based on a contract case involving actress Olivia de Havilland decades before. Jared Leto explained, "The California Appeals Court ruled that no service contract in California is valid after seven years, and it became known as the De Havilland Law after she used it to get out of her contract with Warner Bros. " Many industry watchers viewed the suit as
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#17327905629703016-595: Was listed on the London Stock Exchange , and was also once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index , but faced financial problems and US$ 4 billion in debt, leading to its acquisition by Citigroup in February 2011. Citigroup's ownership was temporary, as EMI announced in November 2011 that it would sell its music arm to Vivendi 's Universal Music Group for $ 1.9 billion and its publishing business to
3074-553: Was owned 51% by Hughes Aircraft , of California, US, and 49% by EMI. It manufactured integrated circuits , electrolytic capacitors and, for a short period in the mid-1970s, hand-held calculators under the Gemini name. Early in its life, the Gramophone Company established its subsidiary operations and branch offices in a number of many other countries inside and outside of the British Commonwealth , including Europe,
3132-426: Was put up for sale and final bids were due by 5 October 2011. On 12 November 2011, it was announced that EMI would sell its recorded music operations to Universal Music Group (UMG) for £1.2 billion ($ 1.9 billion) and its music publishing operations to Sony/ATV Music Publishing -for $ 2.2 billion. Among the other companies that had competed for the recorded music business was Warner Music Group which
3190-487: Was reported to have made a $ 2 billion bid. However, IMPALA has said that it would fight the merger. In March 2012, the European Union opened an investigation into Universal's purchase of EMI's recorded music division and had asked rivals and consumer groups whether the deal will result in higher prices and shut out competitors. Isaac Shoenberg Sir Isaac Shoenberg (1 March 1880 – 25 January 1963)
3248-410: Was the fourth largest business group and record label conglomerate in the music industry , and was one of the "Big Four" record companies (now the " Big Three "). Its labels included EMI Records , Parlophone , Virgin Records , and Capitol Records , which are now referenced under Universal Music due to their acquisition with the exception of Parlophone, as it is now owned by Warner Music . EMI
3306-457: Was the only region in the world where EMI was not in operation, although the record label continued to operate in Hong Kong and Indonesia (which was named Arka Music Indonesia). The Chinese and Taiwanese operation of EMI as well as the Hong Kong branch of Gold Label, was sold to Typhoon Group and reformed as Gold Typhoon . The Philippine branch of EMI changed its name to PolyEast Records , and
3364-483: Was used for the cover of the Beatles' first double-disc greatest-hits compilation entitled 1962–1966 (also known as "The Red Album"). In 1969, Angus McBean took a matching group photograph featuring the boys in long hair and beards to contrast with the earlier cleancut image to show that the boys could have appeal across a wide range of audiences. This photo was originally intended for the Get Back album which later
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