| Hansa Records | |
|---|---|
| Parent company | Sony Music Entertainment |
| Founded | 1962 |
| Defunct | 2009 |
| Distributor(s) | Self-distributed (1972–1979) Ariola Records (1979–1987) Bertelsmann Music Group (1987–2002) Sony BMG (2002–2008) Sony Music Entertainment (2008–2009) |
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | Germany |
Hansa Records (also known asHansa,Hansa Musik Produktion orHansa International) was arecord label based inBerlin,Germany founded in 1962.
In the early 1960s, brothers Peter and Thomas Meisel, grandchildren of Will Meisel, who was the founder of German music publisherEdition Meisel & Co. GmbH, assumed responsibility of the family's publishing company upon their grandfather's retirement, and founded Hansa Musik Produktion company and the Hansa record label in 1962.[1] The label's name (and the name of the related recording studio) was inspired by theHanseatic League, a medieval Northern European maritime trade network.
Initially, the label focused on German artists andSchlager music,[1] later finding commercial success with artists such asFrank Farian'sBoney M.,Amii Stewart,Aneka,Modern Talking,Milli Vanilli, and others.
In 1977, the label signed an early lineup ofThe Cure (known at that time as Easy Cure),[2] but wasn't happy with the band's demos and refused to release "Killing an Arab",[3] suggesting that the band record cover songs instead. The band refused, and Hansa dropped them.[4]
In the mid-1980s, after a decline in sales both domestically and internationally, Hansa Records was eventually purchased byBertelsmann Music Group, who merged them with several other labels likeAriola-Eurodisc to form BMG Berlin Musik GmbH/BMG-Ariola, later to become part of international conglomerateSony Music Entertainment, under which it was phased-out in 2009. It is used today only for reissues of its previous releases.[5][6]
When it became difficult for Hansa to book sufficient recording studio time at theAriola-Eurodisc studio to keep up with their growing production schedule, the Meisel brothers built Hansa Studio One inTiergarten inWest Berlin. In 1972, the Meisel brothers acquired Ariola's historic building at Köthener Strasse 38, home of the historicMeistersaal concert hall, naming it Hansa Tonstudio Two. Initially intended to record only Hansa Records projects, Hansa's studios gradually started booking non-Hansa clients, most notablyIggy Pop andDavid Bowie, who in 1977 recorded their respective albumsLust for Life andLow at the studio. In the late 1970s they closed the first studio and consolidated operations to the second, simplify referring to it as Hansa Tonstudio.[6] The Meisel family retained ownership of Hansa Tonstudio, who run it as part of theMeisel Music group.[7]
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