Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment and operates as an imprint of the Columbia/Epic Label Group. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company; successor to the Volta Graphophone Company.
Columbia is the oldest brand name in pre-recorded sound, being the first record company to produce pre-recorded records as opposed to blank cylinders. Columbia Records went on to release records by an array of notable singers. From 1961 to 1990, its recordings were released outside theU.S. andCanada on the CBS Records label before adopting theColumbia name in most of the world.
The earliest issue of country material were in the predominantly popular full-price series that began in 1923.
