| Polydor Limited | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Parent company | Universal Music Group (UMG) |
| Founded | 2 April 1913; 112 years ago (1913-04-02) |
| Distributors |
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| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | Germany United Kingdom |
| Location | London, England |
| Official website | polydor |
Polydor, also known asPolydor Records, is a Britishrecord label that operates as part ofUniversal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal'sInterscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. In turn, Polydor distributes Interscope releases in the United Kingdom. Polydor Records Ltd. was established in London in 1954 as a British subsidiary of German companyDeutsche Grammophon/Schallplatte Grammophon GmbH. It was renamed Polydor Ltd. in 1972. The company is usually mentioned as "Polydor Ltd. (UK)", or a similar form, for holding copyrights.
Notable current and past artists signed to the label includeRainbow,Siouxsie and the Banshees,Yngwie J. Malmsteen,the Cure,James Brown,Ray, Goodman & Brown,Atlanta Rhythm Section,John Mayall,[1]Deep Purple,Cream,the Moody Blues,the Who,Jimi Hendrix,Focus,Fishmans,Bee Gees,Lana Del Rey,Stephen Fretwell,the Jam,Style Council,the Shadows,James Last,Eric Clapton,Gloria Gaynor,Level 42,Sam Fender,S Club,Girls Aloud,Cheryl,Raye,Ellie Goulding,Jesy Nelson,Cian Ducrot andDestroy Lonely.[2]
Polydor Records was founded on 2 April 1913 by German Polyphon-Musikwerke AG inLeipzig and registered on 25 July 1914 (Nr. 316613). The label was founded as Firma Brachhausen & Riesener in 1887 by Gustav Adolf Brachhausen and Ernst Paul Riessner, for manufacturing their new mechanical disc-playingmusic boxPolyphon, invented in 1870.[3][better source needed] DuringWorld War I on 24 April 1917, Polyphon-Musikwerke AG acquired the GermanDeutsche Grammophon-Aktiengesellschaft record plant and company from the German government. The German state had taken over British-held Grammophon as enemy property during World War I.[4][better source needed]
Polydor was originally anindependent branch of thePolyphon-Grammophon-Konzern group. It was used as an export label from 1924. After the British and German branches of theGramophone Company were separated duringWorld War I, Deutsche Grammophon claimed the rights to theNipper-dog and gramophone trademark for Germany, whereHis Master's Voice recordings were to be released under theElectrolatrademark replacing the company lost during the war.
In turn, Deutsche Grammophon records exported from Germany were released on thePolyphon Musik andPolydorlabels.[5] New foreign branches were founded, for example in Austria, Denmark, Sweden and France.
In 1941, Deutsche Grammophon (including Polydor) was purchased bySiemens & Halske. Polydor became apopular music label in 1946, while the new Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft label became aclassical music label in 1949.[4] The previously used label, Grammophon, was disbanded. DGG gave, by an agreement dated 5 July 1949, an exclusive license from 1 July 1951 to use the Nipper-dog with gramophone to the original owner's companyElectrola, the German branch ofEMI. (In Germany, it was impossible to sell the trademark without selling the company.)[6] Polydor remained Deutsche Grammophon's export label, including classical music, in France and the Spanish-speaking world for the remainder of the long-playing era, as a result of language and cultural concerns. DGG established a subsidiary in London called Polydor Records Ltd. in 1954.
In the early 1960s,orchestra leaderBert Kaempfert signed unknownsTony Sheridan andThe Beatles, credited asThe Beat Brothers, to Polydor.[7][8][9][10][11] Popular International entertainers such asJames Last, Bert Kaempfert,Kurt Edelhagen,Caterina Valente and theKessler Twins appeared on the Polydor label, as well as many French, Spanish and Latin-American figures.
Siemens entered into a joint venture withPhilips in 1962 creating the Grammophon-Philips Group, of which Polydor became a subsidiary label. Throughout the late 1960s, Polydor released albums ofJohn Mayall & the Bluesbreakers,Cream,The Who,Jimi Hendrix,Bee Gees andEric Clapton.
Polydor opened a US branch in 1969 (in years prior, they licensed their catalogue toAtlantic Records),[12] but did not become a real presence in the US record industry until its purchase of the recording contract and back catalogue ofR&B performerJames Brown in 1971, and the absorption of theMGM Records label by its parent company PolyGram in 1972.
In 1970, Polydor acquired the Hong Kong–basedDiamond Records, which had been owned and founded by the localPortuguese merchant Ren da Silva in the late 1950s.
In 1972, the Grammophon-Philips Group (GPG) reorganised to createPolyGram, fromPolydor and PhonoGram. ThePolydor label continued to run as a subsidiary label under the new company. Throughout the 1970s, Polydor Incorporated became a major rock label, also releasing records by hit makers such as theBee Gees,[13]Gloria Gaynor,Atlanta Rhythm Section andRay, Goodman & Brown.[14]
Into the 1980s, Polydor continued to do respectable business, in spite of becoming increasingly overshadowed by its PolyGram sister labelMercury Records. Polydor took over management ofBritish Decca's pop catalogue.A&R manager Frank Neilson was able to score a major top ten hit in March 1981 for the label with "Do the Hucklebuck" byCoast to Coast as well as signingIan Dury andBilly Fury to the company. In 1984, the company name was parodied in therockumentary filmThis Is Spinal Tap (whosesoundtrack album was distributed by Polydor), where "Polymer Records" was the band's record company.
By the early 1990s, Polydor had begun to underperform. PolyGram subsequently trimmed most of Polydor's staff and roster, and shifted it to operate under the umbrella ofPolyGram Label Group (PLG), a newly constructed "super label" specifically designed to oversee the operations of PolyGram's lesser performing imprints, which includedIsland Records,London Records,Atlas Records andVerve Records at the time.
In 1994, as Island Records recovered from its sales slump, PolyGram dissolved most of PLG into it. Meanwhile, Polydor Records and Atlas Records merged, briefly called "Polydor/Atlas", and began operating throughA&M Records, another PolyGram subsidiary. In 1995, Polydor/Atlas became simply Polydor Records again.
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Over the next few years, Polydor endeavored to sustain its operations through the signing of new artists, and the reissuing of past works, even as it increasingly became less active. In 1998, PolyGram was acquired bySeagram and combined with itsUniversal Music Group. During the merger of these two music powerhouses, Polydor's operations in the United States were assimilated into theInterscope-Geffen-A&M label group. Meanwhile, its international division remained operational, with its records still being distributed domestically viaInterscope and A&M.
Today, in North America, the Polydor Records name and logo is mostly used on reissues of older material from its 1960s and 1970s heyday.Island Records handles the US distribution of most pre-1998 Polydor releases, including the reissues from the British Decca pop/rock collections. In contrastRepublic Records handles reissues fromJames Brown and the MGM Records and Verve Records pop catalog. Nevertheless, during the 2010s, Interscope Records occasionally released music by artists such asAzealia Banks andLana Del Rey under the Polydor name and branding.
Polydor joined UMG'sInterscope Capitol Labels Group in 2024.
Record producerHarold Shedd founded Polydor'sNashville, Tennessee, division in 1994, which specialised incountry music. Among the acts signed to Polydor Nashville were Shane Sutton, Tasha Harris,4 Runner,the Moffatts,Chely Wright, Mark Luna,Clinton Gregory,Amie Comeaux,[15] along withToby Keith andDavis Daniel, who transferred fromMercury Nashville in 1994.[16] The Nashville division was renamed A&M Nashville in March 1996 and closed in September of the same year, as PolyGram consolidated all its Nashville operations under the Mercury name. Today, Polydor, along withEMI Records in the UK and Australia and UMG itself in Canada distributeLost Highway Records' albums in theCommonwealth realms.
In 1972, the British Polydor Records Ltd. was renamed to Polydor Ltd. In the early 1970s, the main source of income for the label was the successful UK bandSlade as well asthe New Seekers andthe Who. At the time, between the 1970s and 1980s, the Polydor/PolyGram Senior VP (who was originally the first head of their new at the time rock department) was Jerry Jaffe, who also signed acts such asMotörhead,Dexys Midnight Runners, andthe Jam. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the label was home to the Who and the Jam (as well as its successor actthe Style Council). Jaffe also interacted with many famous and successful artists while in his position, includingNick Lowe andJohn Lennon, as well as going on to work with groups such asthe Jesus and Mary Chain andSaint Etienne in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Although Polydor's American branch is nearly inactive, in the United Kingdom Polydor remains one of the most prominent labels in the country—with artists such asTake That,Cheryl,Duffy,Girls Aloud,S Club,the Saturdays,Kaiser Chiefs,Ellie Goulding,Mabel andLawson. Polydor also has a strong indie roster through theFiction imprint with acts such asIan Brown,Bright Eyes,Elbow,Stephen Fretwell,White Lies,Kate Nash,Snow Patrol,Filthy Dukes, andCrystal Castles. Polydor has also survived in Canada, becoming the home label forDrake. It also acts as the UK label for American-based acts underInterscope-Geffen-A&M such asEminem,the All-American Rejects,the Black Eyed Peas,Billie Eilish,Camila Cabello,Gwen Stefani,Dr. Dre,Lana Del Rey,Lady Gaga,Olivia Rodrigo,Selena Gomez andSting.[citation needed]
In 2006, Polydor launchedFascination Records, a music label dedicated to pop music. BothGirls Aloud andSophie Ellis-Bextor transferred to the new label and created groups such asthe Saturdays andGirls Can't Catch. Several pop acts from US labelHollywood Records, such asDemi Lovato,Jonas Brothers,Miley Cyrus, andSelena Gomez & the Scene were also signed to Fascination.
In 2008, A&M Records UK was founded as an imprint of Polydor UK. The same year, Polydor obtained distribution ofthe Rolling Stones' back catalogue as well as new releases.[17] With the establishment of A&M Records UK, A&M Records' Canadian division became a separate entity for the first time since the formation of Universal Music Group. Polydor, meanwhile, continued to distribute Interscope, Geffen and selected Lost Highway releases in Canada throughUniversal Music Canada, as it does to this day.
Polydor UK rejected British singer-songwriterRaye's albumMy 21st Century Blues and one of its lead singles, "Escapism" for release under the label, leading her to release the former independently.[18] At the2024 Brit Awards, Raye received 6 awards, all for works released with labels other than Polydor, breaking the record for the most nominations received by a single artist in a year.[19]
Polydor Records initially launched in Japan in 1926 as Nippon Polydor. During World War II, the company rebranded as Daitōa Chikuonki (大東亞蓄音器株式會社). In 1950, the company name was changed to Polydor Chikuonki K.K. (ポリドール蓄音器株式会社,Poridōru ChikuonkiKabushiki gaisha). In 1952, Polydor Chikuonki rebranded as Japan Polydor K.K.; later becoming Nippon Grammophon K.K..
In 1972, the company became a subsidiary of PolyGram as Poloydor K.K. (ポリドール株式会社,Poridōru Kabushiki gaisha).
In 1990,PolyGram Co., Ltd. was founded as a supervising corporation of the Polygram group in Japan. Polydor K.K. continued to operate as a production company when its parent company rebranded as Universal Music Japan in 1999 until 2001 when it was merged with Universal Victor and rebranded as Universal Polydor. In 2002, Universal Polydor was rebranded asUniversal J.[20]
In December 2022, Universal Japan reorganized Universal J.[20] The label was split into two record labels, UJ and Polydor Records.[21] Polydor Records began operations as a division of Universal Japan on 01 January 2023.[21]
Polydor's Japanese division currently has three imprints which arePerfume Records,Asse!! Records, andUtahime Records. It also has distribution rights forNHK Records.
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