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| Ariola | |
|---|---|
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| Parent company | Sony Music Entertainment (since 2008) |
| Founded | 1958; 67 years ago (1958) |
| Distributor(s) |
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| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | Germany |
| Location | Berlin, Germany |
| Official website | ariola |
Ariola (also known asAriola Records,Ariola Express,Ariola-Eurodisc andBMG Ariola) is a Germanrecord label. In the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of theBertelsmann Music Group, which in turn has become a part of the international media conglomerateSony Music Entertainment.
Ariola Eurodisc GmbH was founded in 1958 as a music outlet ofBertelsmann. It set up several foreign subsidiaries. Leveraging acquisitions by its parent company, Ariola positioned itself to become a strong contender in the German record industry in the mid-1960s.[1] Ariola America was founded in 1975 in Los Angeles, and achievedBillboard magazine number one singles withMary MacGregor's "Torn Between Two Lovers" (1976) andAmii Stewart's cover version of the 1966Eddie Floyd hit "Knock on Wood" (1979). Other artists on the Ariola America roster during the late 1970s includedGene Cotton,The Three Degrees, Chanson, and the Canadian bandPrism among others. After its pop success dried up, Ariola America found success in the Spanish language market includingJosé José andRocío Dúrcal from the late 1970s onward and Mexican artistMarisela starting in the 1990s. Other subsidiaries include Ariola-Athena to release spoken word records; Ariola Benelux was founded in 1970 to cover theBenelux market; Ariola Eurodisc S.A. was a Spanish division of Ariola, founded in 1970; Ariola UK, the UK based subsidiary of Ariola, was founded in 1977; Baccarola; Türküola, a subsidiary for the Turkish market;Eurodisc to release classical records in Europe and Arabella to release disco records in France - most successfully withAmanda Lear,Giorgio Moroder (house producer of Ariola); and Jupiter Records for GermanSchlager music and disco artists such asDschinghis Khan.
It acquired bothArista Records and German rival labelHansa Records in 1979. It sold 50% of Arista toRCA Records in 1983; after a brief joint venture between RCA and Ariola, RCA (including its record division) was acquired byGeneral Electric who promptly sold RCA's stake in the venture back to Ariola. Ariola America also had a sister label called Ocean Records, which included on its roster actress/entertainerAnn-Margret. It was active 1979 through 1980. In the 1980s, there was a software development division calledAriolasoft.
Today, Ariola is a unit ofSony Music Group and is still active in Germany under the Sony Group Corporation umbrella.
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