Record Label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos.
Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion and enforcement of copyright protection of sound recordings and music videos; conducts talent scouting and development of new artists; and maintains contracts with recording artists and their managers.
The term record label derives from the circular label in the center of a vinyl record which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information.
------------------------------------------------------------ABC Records
ABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company (then known as American Broadcasting-Paramount Theaters).
ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H. Clark. Am-Par also established the Impulse jazz label in 1961 and subsequently acquired a number of other labels before the entire division was sold to MCA Records in 1979.
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States-based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but currently operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine.
It is a wholly owned subsidiary of EMI. The Capitol Records Company was founded by songwriter Johnny Mercer in 1942, with the financial help of fellow songwriter and movie producer Buddy DeSylva and the business acumen of Glenn Wallichs (1910–1971), owner of Music City, at the time the biggest record store in Los Angele, California.
Wallichs Music City record store opened in 1940 and was located in Hollywood on the corner of Sunset and Vine. It was the premier music store inSouthern California for decades but closed in 1978.
Columbia Records
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 the Columbia name in most of the world.
Dot Records
About Dot Records: Dot Records was active between 1950 and 1977. It was founded by Randy Wood. In Gallatin, Tennessee, Wood had earlier started a mail order record shop, known for its radio ads on WLAC (Nashville) and its R&B air personality Bill "Hoss" Allen. In 1957, Wood sold ownership of the label to Paramount Pictures, but he remained the president of the company for another decade.
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; due to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades.
It was noted for its development of recording methods in theUnited Kingdom and for the development of original cast albums in theUnited States. Both wings are now part of the Universal Music Group which is owned by Vivendi, a media conglomerate headquartered inFrance.
MCA Records
MCA Records is an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group (now Universal Music Group, of which MCA Records was still part.
MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003. MCA's country division, MCA Nashville Records, is a still active imprint of Universal Music Group Nashville.
RCA Records
RCA Records (originally The Victor Talking Machine Company, then RCA Victor) is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America, which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------Source: Wikipedia, 2011.
