EMIRecord Label Study

Formed in 1931 in London under the name of The Electrical and Musical Industries.

In 1948 EMI introduced the first vinyl

THE 1950sThe 50s was a great decade for EMI

In 1956 EMI began to release material by Elvis Presley, both in the U.S and the UK

In 1958 Cliff Richard signed to EMI, the start of a 50 year career with the label.

THE 1960sHowever, the 60s saw moresuccess for the label

In 1962, despite being rejected by every other label, EMI sign Liverpool band The Beatles to their subsidiary label Parlophone. They see huge success, earning millions for EMI.

It encouraged a massive boom for UK acts, with EMI dominating the UK charts throughout the 1960s.

The Beatles have sold approximately 600 million albums.

THE 1960sBuy out ofTamla Motown

It was during this decade that EMI vertically integrated Tamla Motown.

This was a massive U.S Motown label with the likes of Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Jackson Five, and The Temptations signed to it. This meant that EMI produced the majority of Motown music globally.

THE 1970sTechnology and Prog-Rock

In the 1970s, EMI begin to branch out, signing artists from different genres.It was during this decade that EMI signed Pink Floyd, Queen and The Rolling Stones

In 1975, EMI were the first label to have an act produce a music video as part of the promotion for a single. Bohemian Rhapsody is considered as one of Queen’s biggest success.

1979 saw the vertical integration of Blue Note Records: the

largest jazz label in the world.

THE 1980sSales of music were slow, resulting in EMI’s interest in other genres.As music sales began to slow, EMI capitalised on the growing interest in heavy metal and signed Iron Maiden. Shortly after, the label changed direction once again and signed Duran Duran

In 1986 EMI began manufacturing CDs,

re-establishing themselves as a successful label

In 1989, EMI bought the rights for SBK’s back catalogue: ‘Singin’ In The Rain’, ‘Wizard of Oz’ and‘Santa Claus Is Coming To Town‘, were acquired, making EMI Music Publishing the undisputed world leader

THE 1990sMajor successes for EMI.

1992: Vertical integration of Virgin Music Group.

Radiohead are signed to subsidiary Parlophone

The Verve and Chemical Brothers are signed to Virgin

1994: The Spice Girls sign with Virgin, selling 35 millions albums worldwide

1996: Robbie Williams signs with EMIEMI vertically integrates LA based

Priority Records. Snoop Dogg, NWA and Ice cube are now part of the EMI family.

1999: EMI sign Coldplay on subsidiary label Parlophone

THE 1990sConvergence begins for EMI

Part of the reason why EMI saw such success throughout the 1990s was its appreciation of the way in which the music industry could become convergent.

1993: EMI’s label website is live.

1998: the very first album is streamed over the internet. Massive Attack, signed to Virgin, release their album Mezzanine.

1999: Again, EMI are at the forefront of musical revolution when David

Bowie’s hours… became the very first digital album download.

2000 – to present dayBuy-outs, fall-outs and furtherconvergence

2001: EMI release Dig in by Lenny Kravitz: it is the first internet video single.

2002: EMI is the first record label to release digital singles to audiences at the same time of them being played by radio stations.

2005: A deal is completed with Walt Disney: Toy Story, Alice in Wonderland, High School Musical and Hannah Montana soundtracks are all released through EMI.

2000 – to present dayBuy-outs, fall-outs and furtherconvergence

2007: EMI is bought out by private equity firm Terra Firma for £4.2million. They said:“EMI's revenue has declined over the past 5 years due to the structural shift in the consumer music market and a slow response, by both the industry and the Company, to the shift to digital consumption.”

As a result, Radiohead leave EMI, shortly followed by the release of their album In Rainbows. It was released to fans digitally, inviting them to “pay what you want”. There was no artwork, no lyrics and files were without copyright protection. Radiohead said of the split from EMI: “Terra Firma doesn't understand the music industry”

2000 – to present dayBuy-outs, fall-outs and furtherconvergence

2010: Pink Floyd win their court case against EMI over the online distribution of some of their albums. Floyd never intended their “concept” albums to be sold as individual tracks, arguing that EMI did not consider their “artistic integrity”.

2010: Paul McCartney finds himself in a similar battle with regard to distribution. He says he has been trying to negotiate with EMI and iTunes to get The Beatles discography available on iTunes. The catalogue is still unavailable to download digitally (legally)

OTHER KEY POINTSSome of EMI’s Subsidiary labels:

Blue Note

Capitol

EMI Records

Parlophone

VirginActs signed to EMI:Lily AllenThe BeatlesColdplayNorah Jones30 Seconds to MarsPink Floyd

EMI also owns the world famous

Abbey Road recording studios

Queen, Elvis and The Beatles are all in the Top 5 biggest selling artists of all time. They are all, at some point or another, artists signed with EMI