The Australian Record Company (ARC) was a record label and manufacturer later acquired by CBS Records International.
Originally known as Featuradio, a company formed in 1933 by George Sutton and his brother-in-law James M. Sayer. They sold the business in 1936, and Sutton continued to work there until it became The Australian Record Company (ARC) in 1938. [1] At the time, ARC shared a studio with radio station 2GB in Sydney and produced transcription discs for radio broadcast, [2] and later began pressing and distributing records. [3] They created original radio programmes directed by Gordon Grimsdale. [4]
In 1949, ARC started two new labels, Rodeo and Pacific. Rodeo released music by Reg Lindsay and recordings of Tex Morton. Pacific produced local versions of pop songs from Capitol Records, [5] but stopped when in 1951 ARC purchased the rights to distribute London Records and Capitol Records catalogue in Australia. They later sold its rights to Capitol to EMI. [6]
In 1953 The Australian Record Company became The Australian Record Company Limited, and released the first 10" LP and first 45 RPM record in Australia. [3] They acquired the license to press records from the US Columbia Records, and did so under the name Coronet. [3]
ARC was the largest record company in Australia in 1960 and employed 167 people at the time. [7] That year, ARC were acquired by CBS Records International and changed their name to CBS Records Australia in 1977. By the end of the 1980s, the company had become Sony Music Australia, and later Sony Music Entertainment (Australia) Limited. [3]
Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwide success over time, with the success of platinum performers Paula Abdul, Janet Jackson, Devo, Tangerine Dream, Genesis, Phil Collins, OMD, the Human League, Culture Club, Simple Minds, Lenny Kravitz, the Sex Pistols, and Mike Oldfield among others, meaning that by the time it was sold, it was regarded as a major label, alongside other large international independents such as A&M and Island Records.
EMI Group Limited was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its acquisition by Universal Music in 2012, it was the fourth largest business group and record label conglomerate in the music industry, and was one of the "Big Five" record companies. Its labels included EMI Records, Parlophone, Virgin Records, and Capitol Records, which are now referenced under Universal Music due to their acquisition with the exception of Parlophone, as it is now owned by Warner Music.
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the American Graphophone Company, the successor to the Volta Graphophone Company. Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the recorded sound business, and the second major company to produce records. From 1961 to 1991, its recordings were released outside North America under the name CBS Records to avoid confusion with EMI's Columbia Graphophone Company. Columbia is one of Sony Music's four flagship record labels: Epic Records, and former longtime rivals, RCA Records and Arista Records as the latter two were originally owned by BMG before its 2008 relaunch after Sony's acquisition alongside other BMG labels.
Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry, nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a crooning style on radio, in films, and on television for more than three decades, beginning in the early 1930s.
RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America.
Monument Records is an American record label in Washington, D.C. named for the Washington Monument, founded in 1958 by Fred Foster, Buddy Deane, and business manager Jack Kirby. Buddy Deane soon left the company, and in the early '60s bought KOTN in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where he lived in retirement until his death. Foster and Kirby relocated to the Nashville suburb of Hendersonville, Tennessee. Monument's releases include a variety of genres including rock and roll, country, jazz, and rhythm and blues.
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Columbia Graphophone Co. Ltd. was one of the earliest gramophone companies in the United Kingdom.
American Record Corporation (ARC), also referred to as American Record Company, American Recording Corporation, or ARC Records, was an American record company.
Pye Records was a British record label. Its best known artists were Lonnie Donegan (1956–1969), Petula Clark (1957–1971), the Searchers (1963–1967), the Kinks (1964–1971), Sandie Shaw (1964–1971), Status Quo (1968–1971) and Brotherhood of Man (1975–1979). The label changed its name to PRT Records in 1980, before being briefly reactivated as Pye Records in 2006.
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Sony Entertainment and managed by the American umbrella division of multinational conglomerate Sony. It is the recording division of the Sony Music Group, with the other half being the publishing division, Sony Music Publishing.
SBK Records was a record label, owned by Universal Music Group, that is currently part of the Capitol Music Group, where it is in hibernation. The label was founded in 1988 and during its time in activity existed as part of the EMI Group.
Philips Records is a record label founded by the Dutch electronics company Philips and the Dutch-American largest record label company Universal Music Group. It was founded as Philips Phonographische Industrie in 1950. In 1946, Philips acquired the company which pressed records for British Decca's Dutch outlet in Amsterdam.
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Coronet Records is the name of at least three different record companies.
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Avex Trax is a record label owned by Japanese entertainment conglomerate Avex Inc. The label was launched in September 1990, and was the first label by the Group.
CBS Records International was the international arm of the Columbia Records unit of Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. (CBS) formed in 1961 and launched in 1962. Previously, Columbia Records had licensed other record companies to manufacture and distribute Columbia recordings outside North America, such as Philips Records and its subsidiary Fontana in Europe.
Lesley "Les" Welch was an Australian musician, popular in the 1950s.
Australian Record Company discography at Discogs (1938 to 1953)
Australian Record Company discography at Discogs (1953 to 1977)