PolyGram

PolyGram was the name from 1972 of the major label recording company started by Philips as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1998, it was sold to Seagram and made part of Universal Music Group.

Philips Phonografische Industrie (PPI), 1950-1962

In the 1940s, the record business was spread out within Philips — research

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in the Eindhoven labs, development elsewhere in Eindhoven, recording in

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Hilversum, manufacturing in Doetinchem, distribution from Amsterdam

Related Topics:
Hilversum - Doetinchem - Amsterdam

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and exports from Eindhoven. During the late 1940s, Philips combined its

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various music businesses into Philips Phonografische Industrie (PPI), a

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wholly-owned subsidiary.

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PPI's early growth was based on alliances. A merger was first proposed with

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Decca of London in late 1945, but was rejected by Edward Lewis, Decca's owner. (PolyGram finally acquired Decca in 1979.)

Related Topics:
Edward Lewis - 1979

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In the early 1950s, Philips set itself the goal of making PPI the

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largest record company in Europe.

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PPI's second attempt at a merger was with Deutsche Grammophon

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Gesellschaft (DGG). DGG, owned by Siemens AG and well-known for its

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classical repertoire, had been the German licensee for Decca from 1935.

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Shortly after PPI was founded it had made a formal alliance with DGG to

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manufacture each others' records, coordinate releases and not to poach each

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others' artists or bid against each other for new talent. PPI and DGG

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finally merged in 1962.

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The alliance with DGG still left PPI without repertoire in Britain or the

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US. But in 1951, after Columbia had failed to renew its

Related Topics:
1951 - Columbia

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international distribution agreement with EMI, PPI agreed to distribute

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Columbia recordings outside the US and have Columbia distribute its recordings

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inside the US. This agreement ran until 1961, when Columbia set up its own

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European network and PPI set out to make acquisitions in the US.

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PPI built or bought factories in smaller countries. In 1962, PPI had a large factory

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in Baarn and factories in France, Britain, Denmark, Norway, Spain,

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Italy, Egypt, Nigeria and Brazil.

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PPI played an important role in the introduction of the long-playing vinyl

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record to Europe. Columbia introduced their LP record in 1948 and Philips

Related Topics:
LP record - 1948

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presented its first LP at a record retailers' convention in 1949. Philips'

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commitment to LP technology was an important factor in its 1951-1961 deal

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with Columbia.

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