61-688: Philips Records is a record label founded by Dutch electronics company Philips and Dutch - American music corporation Universal Music Group . It was founded as Philips Phonographische Industrie in 1950. In 1946, Philips acquired the company which pressed records for British Decca's Dutch outlet in Amsterdam. The record label originated as "Philips Phonographische Industrie" (PPI) in June 1950 when it began issuing classical music recordings. Recordings were also made of popular artists of multiple nationalities and of classical artists from Germany, France and
122-551: A "record group" which is, in turn, controlled by a music group. The constituent companies in a music group or record group are sometimes marketed as being "divisions" of the group. From 1929 to 1998, there were six major record labels, known as the Big Six: PolyGram was merged into Universal Music Group (UMG) in 1999, leaving the remaining record labels to be known as the Big Five. In 2004, Sony and BMG agreed to
183-405: A 50% profit-share agreement, aka 50–50 deal, not uncommon. In addition, independent labels are often artist-owned (although not always), with a stated intent often being to control the quality of the artist's output. Independent labels usually do not enjoy the resources available to the "big three" and as such will often lag behind them in market shares. However, frequently independent artists manage
244-562: A US Senate committee, that the Byrds never received any of the royalties they had been promised for their biggest hits, " Mr. Tambourine Man " and " Turn! Turn!, Turn! ". A contract either provides for the artist to deliver completed recordings to the label, or for the label to undertake the recording with the artist. For artists without a recording history, the label is often involved in selecting producers, recording studios , additional musicians, and songs to be recorded, and may supervise
305-479: A bigger company. If this is the case it can sometimes give the artist greater freedom than if they were signed directly to the big label. There are many examples of this kind of label, such as Nothing Records , owned by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails ; and Morning Records, owned by the Cooper Temple Clause , who were releasing EPs for years before the company was bought by RCA . If an artist and
366-408: A conventional cash advance to sign the artist, who would receive a royalty for sales after expenses were recouped. With the release of the artist's first album, however, the label has an option to pay an additional $ 200,000 in exchange for 30 percent of the net income from all touring, merchandise, endorsements, and fan-club fees. Atlantic would also have the right to approve the act's tour schedule, and
427-684: A deal with a proper label. In 2002, ArtistShare was founded as the Internet's first record label where the releases were directly funded by the artist's fans. Wilma Cozart Fine Wilma Cozart Fine (March 29, 1927, Aberdeen, Mississippi – September 21, 2009, Harrison, New York ) was an American record producer She produced hundreds of recordings, particularly the Mercury Living Presence series . According to her 2009 obituary in The New York Times ,
488-621: A joint venture and merged their recorded music division to create the Sony BMG label (which would be renamed Sony Music Entertainment after a 2008 merger); BMG kept its music publishing division separate from Sony BMG and later sold BMG Music Publishing to UMG. In 2007, the remaining record labels—then known as the Big Four—controlled about 70% of the world music market , and about 80% of the United States music market. In 2012,
549-476: A label want to work together, whether an artist has contacted a label directly, usually by sending their team a demo, or the Artists & Repertoire team of the label has scouted the artist and reached out directly, they will usually enter in to a contractual relationship. A label typically enters into an exclusive recording contract with an artist to market the artist's recordings in return for royalties on
610-462: A large international media group , or somewhere in between. The Association of Independent Music (AIM) defines a 'major' as "a multinational company which (together with the companies in its group) has more than 5% of the world market(s) for the sale of records or music videos." As of 2012 , there are only three labels that can be referred to as "major labels": Universal Music Group , Sony Music , and Warner Music Group . In 2014, AIM estimated that
671-774: A major label in the world of rock and pop music in the late 1950s until late 1970s. In the UK, Philips developed a strong popular music roster, signing acts like Marty Wilde , Roy Castle , Anne Shelton , the Four Pennies , the Springfields , Dusty Springfield , and the Walker Brothers . The American pop label was launched in 1962 starting with the R&;B single "Gee Baby" by Ben & Bea as well as folk-country, like "Makes You Wanna Sigh" by Ross Legacy in 1969. It signed
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#1732782343501732-605: A return by recording for a much smaller production cost of a typical big label release. Sometimes they are able to recoup their initial advance even with much lower sales numbers. On occasion, established artists, once their record contract has finished, move to an independent label. This often gives the combined advantage of name recognition and more control over one's music along with a larger portion of royalty profits. Artists such as Dolly Parton , Aimee Mann , Prince , Public Enemy , among others, have done this. Historically, companies started in this manner have been re-absorbed into
793-454: Is often marketed as a "unit" or "division" of the parent label, though in most cases, they operate as pseudonym for it and do not exist as a distinct business operation or separate business structure (although trademarks are sometimes registered). A record label may give a musical act an imprint as part of their branding, while other imprints serve to house other activities, such as side ventures of that label. Music collectors often use
854-684: Is owned by Sony Group Corporation ). Record labels and music publishers that are not under the control of the big three are generally considered to be independent ( indie ), even if they are large corporations with complex structures. The term indie label is sometimes used to refer to only those independent labels that adhere to independent criteria of corporate structure and size, and some consider an indie label to be almost any label that releases non-mainstream music, regardless of its corporate structure. Independent labels are often considered more artist-friendly. Though they may have less sales power, indie labels typically offer larger artist royalty with
915-621: The Four Seasons in 1964. It also played a part in promoting the garage rock genre and the psychedelic rock genre in the mid to late 1960s, their most successful signing being Blue Cheer . In the UK during the 1960s and 1970s, Philips turned its attention more to the growing MOR market with artists like Lena Zavaroni , Peters and Lee , Nana Mouskouri and Demis Roussos , as well as issuing novelty records by media personalities like Ed Stewart , Bruce Forsyth , Dave Allen and Chris Hill . In 1970, Philips, Fontana, Mercury Records , and
976-565: The Universal Music Group . The Philips UK and Phonogram UK websites are with WIX. In 1983, Philips became one of the first record labels to issue compact discs using digital recordings that had been made since 1978. Philips and its subsidiaries eventually re-issued many of its pre-digital stereo and mono recordings on compact disc. Philips and DuPont partnered in four CD manufacturing plants in Hanover, Germany; Blackburn in
1037-463: The free software and open source movements and the success of Linux . In the mid-2000s, some music publishing companies began undertaking the work traditionally done by labels. The publisher Sony/ATV Music, for example, leveraged its connections within the Sony family to produce, record, distribute, and promote Elliott Yamin 's debut album under a dormant Sony-owned imprint , rather than waiting for
1098-510: The "parent" of any sublabels. Vanity labels are labels that bear an imprint that gives the impression of an artist's ownership or control, but in fact represent a standard artist/label relationship. In such an arrangement, the artist will control nothing more than the usage of the name on the label, but may enjoy a greater say in the packaging of their work. An example of such a label is the Neutron label owned by ABC while at Phonogram Inc. in
1159-759: The LSO, were under the command of prestigious young conductors such as Colin Davis and Bernard Haitink . From 1961 until the late 1980s, Philips Records (USA) issued many classical titles in US-specific packaging, initially in the same glossy-laminated covers as Mercury Records. The records were pressed at Mercury's plant in Richmond, Indiana, and mastered in New York by George Piros at Fine Recording, using 2-track and mono master tapes provided by Philips. These releases were
1220-835: The Netherlands. Launched under the slogan "Records of the Century" (referring to Philips Industries' UK Head Office at Century House, W1), the first releases in Britain appeared in January 1953 on 10" 78 rpm discs, with LPs appearing in July 1954. Philips also distributed recordings made by the United States Columbia Records (which at the time was a unit of CBS ) in the UK and on the European continent. After
1281-774: The PHS 900 xxx series for stereo and the 500 xxx series for mono. Clair Van Ausdal in Mercury's New York office oversaw the Philips classical US releases through the mid-1960s. Philips also launched an eponymous jazz label in the US, releasing both imported European Philips recordings and making new American recordings of Gerry Mulligan , Dizzy Gillespie and Woody Herman , among others. These records were made through Mercury's existing jazz operations and produced by Jack Tracy and others. In addition to jazz and classical music, Philips also became
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#17327823435011342-489: The Philips and Fontana labels. This arrangement lasted until April 1962, when, under pressure from Columbia in America, Philips then created a third label for them, CBS Records (it could not name the label Columbia as the copyright for that name had long been owned by EMI). In late 1964, under the stewardship of U.S. President of Columbia Records Goddard Lieberson , CBS Records formed its own international operations, adopting
1403-475: The Philips classical recordings have been reissued on the Eloquence label. Universal also released a "Philips 50" series marking the 50th anniversary of Philips Records in the early 2000s; some of those CDs are still in print. Pentatone has released Philips Quadraphonic sound recordings from the early and mid-1970s in 4-channel SACD format, as their RQR Series. Philips' classical catalog was issued on CD under
1464-802: The Philips pop back catalogue to this day. Philips Records has been part of Universal Music since 1998, the name continuing to be licensed from the label's former parent company. In 1999, Philips Classics was absorbed into the Decca Music Group , and Philips recording and mastering operations in the Netherlands were shut down. Former employees bought the Philips Recording Center in Baarn, Netherlands, and formed Polyhymnia International (a recording and mastering company) and Pentatone Records (which specializes in SACD releases). Many of
1525-614: The UK (formerly the Philips Laservision Disc factory); Kings Mountain in North Carolina, and Louviers in France. By the mid-1990s, PolyGram Classics handled the classical labels (Philips, Mercury, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon) and Verve Music Group handled the jazz back catalogue (from Verve, Mercury, etc.) and new jazz releases. Island Records absorbed Mercury in 2014 and in doing so, Island has continued to manage
1586-513: The UK and throughout much of Europe, though it still frequently issued records in France and South East Asia by Chinese and Hong Kong pop artists. The majority of PolyGram's rock and pop music signings went to Mercury, and Polydor in the UK and Europe, though the label was used sparingly in America. Philips became part of PolyGram Classics as a classical music label along with Decca Records and Deutsche Grammophon . Most artists were moved to Mercury Records or other local PolyGram-owned labels. From
1647-456: The UK. At one point artist Lizzie Tear (under contract with ABC themselves) appeared on the imprint, but it was devoted almost entirely to ABC's offerings and is still used for their re-releases (though Phonogram owns the masters of all the work issued on the label). However, not all labels dedicated to particular artists are completely superficial in origin. Many artists, early in their careers, create their own labels which are later bought out by
1708-832: The US under the Philips label. The Mercury Living Presence team also made classical recordings for Philips, in July 1961. These records, made in Walthamstow Town Hall near London, included Liszt piano concertos by Sviatoslav Richter and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kiril Kondrashin ; two albums of symphonic "bon-bons" by the London Symphony Orchestra and Charles Mackerras released as "Kaleidoscope"; "Russian Song Recital" by Galina Vishnevskaya and Mstislav Rostropovich ; and Beethoven sonata op. 69 for cello and piano by Richter and Rostropovich. The Richter Liszt album
1769-546: The United States would typically bear a 4th & B'way logo and would state in the fine print, "4th & B'way™, an Island Records, Inc. company". Collectors discussing labels as brands would say that 4th & B'way is a sublabel or imprint of just "Island" or "Island Records". Similarly, collectors who choose to treat corporations and trademarks as equivalent might say 4th & B'way is an imprint and/or sublabel of both Island Records, Ltd. and that company's sublabel, Island Records, Inc. However, such definitions are complicated by
1830-597: The Village People , as their home label Casablanca Records was not cleared for use in all countries around the world. Another important American label signing for the UK was Avco Records, which provided Phonogram with one of their best-selling U.S. acts, the Stylistics. By late 1979 Phonogram signed Dire Straits to the Vertigo label. The band sold huge numbers of records all over Europe and were chosen to promote
1891-407: The album will sell better if the artist complies with the label's desired requests or changes. At times, the record label's decisions are prudent ones from a commercial perspective, but these decisions may frustrate artists who feel that their art is being diminished or misrepresented by such actions. In other instances, record labels have shelved artists' albums with no intention of any promotion for
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1952-411: The artist from their contract, leaving the artist in a state of limbo. Artists who have had disputes with their labels over ownership and control of their music have included Taylor Swift , Tinashe , Megan Thee Stallion , Kelly Clarkson , Thirty Seconds to Mars , Clipse , Ciara , JoJo , Michelle Branch , Kesha , Kanye West , Lupe Fiasco , Paul McCartney , and Johnny Cash . In
2013-415: The artist in question. Reasons for shelving can include the label deciding to focus its resources on other artists on its roster, or the label undergoing a restructure where the person that signed the artist and supports the artist's vision is no longer present to advocate for the artist. In extreme cases, record labels can prevent the release of an artist's music for years, while also declining to release
2074-425: The artist is established and has a loyal fan base. For that reason, labels now have to be more relaxed with the development of artists because longevity is the key to these types of pact. Several artists such as Paramore , Maino , and even Madonna have signed such types of deals. A look at an actual 360 deal offered by Atlantic Records to an artist shows a variation of the structure. Atlantic's document offers
2135-484: The artists may be downloaded free of charge or for a fee that is paid via PayPal or other online payment system. Some of these labels also offer hard copy CDs in addition to direct download. Digital Labels are the latest version of a 'net' label. Whereas 'net' labels were started as a free site, digital labels represent more competition for the major record labels. The new century brought the phenomenon of open-source or open-content record labels. These are inspired by
2196-650: The circular label in the center of a vinyl record which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information. Within the mainstream music industry , recording artists have traditionally been reliant upon record labels to broaden their consumer base, market their albums, and promote their singles on streaming services, radio, and television. Record labels also provide publicists , who assist performers in gaining positive media coverage, and arrange for their merchandise to be available via stores and other media outlets. Record labels may be small, localized and " independent " ("indie"), or they may be part of
2257-471: The company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture , distribution , marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos, while also conducting talent scouting and development of new artists , artist financing and maintaining contracts with recording artists and their managers. The term "record label" derives from
2318-443: The company's large factory based at Walthamstow in N.E. London. In 1961, after Philips lost its US and Canadian distribution deal with Columbia Records, it entered an exchange agreement with Mercury Records . A year later, Philips' US affiliate Consolidated Electronics Industries Corp. (a.k.a. Conelco ), bought Mercury and its subsidiary labels, such as Smash . Philips classical, jazz and pop records were now marketed by Mercury in
2379-403: The company. Some independent labels become successful enough that major record companies negotiate contracts to either distribute music for the label or in some cases, purchase the label completely, to the point where it functions as an imprint or sublabel. A label used as a trademark or brand and not a company is called an imprint , a term used for a similar concept in publishing . An imprint
2440-400: The corporate mergers that occurred in 1989 (when Island was sold to PolyGram) and 1998 (when PolyGram merged with Universal). PolyGram held sublabels including Mercury, Island and Motown. Island remained registered as corporations in both the United States and UK , but control of its brands changed hands multiple times as new companies were formed, diminishing the corporation's distinction as
2501-470: The early 1970s, Philips classical records were no longer being produced in the US; rather they were made in the Netherlands and sold as imports in the American market. Philips reissued a group of Mercury Living Presence titles as "Mercury Golden Imports", with manufacture in the Netherlands and masters cut from 2-track production tapes, as opposed to the original-issue method of mixing stereo LPs directly from
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2562-416: The early days of the recording industry, recording labels were absolutely necessary for the success of any artist. The first goal of any new artist or band was to get signed to a contract as soon as possible. In the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, many artists were so desperate to sign a contract with a record company that they sometimes ended up signing agreements in which they sold the rights to their recordings to
2623-594: The edited 3-track master tapes and films. In the 1980s, Philips Classics Records was formed to distribute its classical artists, although classical recordings have also been issued on the regular Philips label. In the US, Philips eventually handled distribution and sales for Philips, Mercury, British Decca (sold under the London label in the US) and Deutsche Grammophon. After the sale of PolyGram to Vivendi/Seagram, all PolyGram-labels - including Philips and Decca - became part of
2684-512: The end of their contract with EMI when their album In Rainbows was released as a " pay what you want " sales model as an online download, but they also returned to a label for a conventional release. Research shows that record labels still control most access to distribution. Computers and internet technology led to an increase in file sharing and direct-to-fan digital distribution, causing music sales to plummet in recent years. Labels and organizations have had to change their strategies and
2745-490: The headings Digital Classics , Legendary Classics and Silver Line Classics. Many of these titles have been reissued on the Decca label. The "Philips Connoisseur Collection" issued world music and other genres. Record label [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos , or
2806-478: The initial release of CDs in 1985, with a nationwide road tour in association with Philips/Sony Industries. By 1980, PolyGram consolidated all of its U.S. operations, Phonogram, Inc. Mercury Records , RSO , Casablanca and Polydor Records and associated labels into PolyGram Records and it was based in New York City. Under the new company, PolyGram decided to discontinue Philips as a pop and rock label in
2867-468: The label to chart was Frankie Laine's " I Believe ", which reached the No. 1 chart position in the UK that April. Many of the first British recordings on the label were produced by Norman Newell until John Franz was appointed artists and repertoire ( A&R ) manager in 1954. In 1958, Philips created a subsidiary label, Fontana Records , which meant that American-Columbia recordings were being issued on both
2928-683: The major divisions of EMI were sold off separately by owner Citigroup : most of EMI's recorded music division was absorbed into UMG; EMI Music Publishing was absorbed into Sony/ATV Music Publishing; finally, EMI's Parlophone and Virgin Classics labels were absorbed into Warner Music Group (WMG) in July 2013. This left the so-called Big Three labels. In 2020 and 2021, both WMG and UMG had their IPO with WMG starting trading at Nasdaq and UMG starting trading at Euronext Amsterdam and leaving only Sony Music as wholly-owned subsidiary of an international conglomerate ( Sony Entertainment which in turn
2989-433: The major labels (two examples are American singer Frank Sinatra 's Reprise Records , which has been owned by Warner Music Group for some time now, and musician Herb Alpert 's A&M Records , now owned by Universal Music Group). Similarly, Madonna 's Maverick Records (started by Madonna with her manager and another partner) was to come under control of Warner Music when Madonna divested herself of controlling shares in
3050-537: The majors had a collective global market share of some 65–70%. Record labels are often under the control of a corporate umbrella organization called a "music group ". A music group is usually affiliated to an international conglomerate " holding company ", which often has non-music divisions as well. A music group controls and consists of music-publishing companies, record (sound recording) manufacturers, record distributors, and record labels. Record companies (manufacturers, distributors, and labels) may also constitute
3111-606: The name of its then parent CBS . CBS Records set up their UK operation in Theobalds Road in Holborn. Singles and albums on the Philips and Fontana labels by Columbia-owned product were subsequently deleted from the catalogue. In 1962, Philips Records and Deutsche Grammophon formed the Grammophon-Philips Group joint venture (GPG), which later became PolyGram in 1972. UK pressings were manufactured at
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#17327823435013172-454: The newly formed Vertigo Records were amalgamated into a new company called Phonogram . In Europe, however, Philips was used on a major basis and it became the outlet for Sire Records in America and distributed a number of punk and new wave bands like Talking Heads , the Ramones , and Radio Birdman , who were signed from Australia. It also released some disco records by Donna Summer and
3233-507: The output of recording sessions. For established artists, a label is usually less involved in the recording process. The relationship between record labels and artists can be a difficult one. Many artists have had conflicts with their labels over the type of sound or songs they want to make, which can result in the artist's artwork or titles being changed before release. Other artists have had their music prevented from release, or shelved. Record labels generally do this because they believe that
3294-548: The record label in perpetuity. Entertainment lawyers are usually employed by artists to discuss contract terms. Due to advancing technology such as the Internet , the role of labels is rapidly changing, as artists are able to freely distribute their own material through online radio , peer-to-peer file sharing such as BitTorrent , and other services, at little to no cost, but with correspondingly low financial returns. Established artists, such as Nine Inch Nails , whose career
3355-418: The salaries of certain tour and merchandise sales employees hired by the artist. In addition, the label also offers the artist a 30 percent cut of the label's album profits—if any—which represents an improvement from the typical industry royalty of 15 percent. With the Internet now being the dominant source for obtaining music, netlabels have emerged. Depending on the ideals of the net label, music files from
3416-419: The selling price of the recordings. Contracts may extend over short or long durations, and may or may not refer to specific recordings. Established, successful artists tend to be able to renegotiate their contracts to get terms more favorable to them, but Prince 's much-publicized 1994–1996 feud with Warner Bros. Records provides a strong counterexample, as does Roger McGuinn 's claim, made in July 2000 before
3477-510: The separation of the English Columbia label (owned by EMI ) and American Columbia, Philips also started distributing original Columbia recordings on the Philips label in the UK. The first batch of eight singles releases in 1953 included British artists such as Gilbert Harding , Flanagan and Allen and Gracie Fields , followed by American Columbia recording artists Jo Stafford , Frankie Laine and Johnnie Ray . The first single on
3538-400: The term sublabel to refer to either an imprint or a subordinate label company (such as those within a group). For example, in the 1980s and 1990s, 4th & B'way Records (pronounced as "Broadway") was a trademarked brand owned by Island Records Ltd. in the UK and by a subordinate branch, Island Records, Inc., in the United States. The center label on a 4th & Broadway record marketed in
3599-433: The way they work with artists. New types of deals called "multiple rights" or "360" deals are being made with artists, where labels are given rights and percentages to artist's touring, merchandising, and endorsements . In exchange for these rights, labels usually give higher advance payments to artists, have more patience with artist development, and pay higher percentages of CD sales. These 360 deals are most effective when
3660-455: Was developed with major label backing, announced an end to their major label contracts, citing that the uncooperative nature of the recording industry with these new trends is hurting musicians, fans and the industry as a whole. However, Nine Inch Nails later returned to working with a major label, admitting that they needed the international marketing and promotional reach that a major label can provide. Radiohead also cited similar motives with
3721-779: Was recorded on 3-track 35mm magnetic film and was reissued on CD from a remaster made from the film by original producer Wilma Cozart Fine , (wife of the recording engineer Bob ) as part of the Philips Solo series. Classical groups that Philips heavily recorded included the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra , the Beaux Arts Trio , and the Quartetto Italiano . Violinist Arthur Grumiaux and the pianist Claudio Arrau were under contract to Philips. Symphony orchestras under contract, including
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