Columbia

Can be traced back to 1890 when it began releasing brown wax cylinder recordings featuring mainly band marches and whistling solos. The technology improved and by 1950’s, under the auspices of EMI (Electric and Musical Industries) it had become a successful record label.

The original American Columbia Records (Columbia Phonograph) sold off its UK subsidiary, Columbia Gramophone, in 1922, but in 1925 Columbia Gramophone bought back its parent company and went on to acquire Odeon Records and Parlophone Records. In 1931 the Gramophone Company and Columbia Gramophone Company merged and formed EMI, but they were forced to sell their American operations (American ColumbiaI)due to American anti-trust laws.

EMI operated the Columbia record label in the UK until 1973 when it then started to transfer everything over to EMI, (expect the US, Canada, Mexico, Spain and Japan). In 1990 it sold off its remaining interests in the Columbia trademark to Sony Music who already owned the Columbia label in the US and Canada.

Until 1951, English Columbia’s output came mainly from licenced recordings from the American Columbia company, but then they switched distribution in the UK to Philips Records. Eventually American Columbia moved all distribution under its newly formed label – CBS Records. Mindful of this, English Columbia groomed its own talent and over time developed such famous names as Russ Conway, Acker Bilk, John Barry, Cliff Richard, The Shadows, Helen Shapiro, Frank Ifield, Rolf Harris, Freddie and the Dreamers, The Dave Clark Five, Shirley Bassey, Frankie Vaughan, Des O’Connor, Ken Dodd, The Animals, Herman’s Hermits, Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Seekers, The Yardbirds and Pink Floyd.

Today the Columbia/EMI back catalogue is owned by Universal Music Group and its managed by UMGs Virgin EMI group in the UK.