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Columbia House
Columbia House was an umbrella brand for Columbia Records' mail-order music clubs, the primary iteration of which was the Columbia Record Club, established in 1955. The Columbia House brand was introduced in the early 1970s by Columbia Records (a division of CBS, Inc.), and had a significant market presence in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. * * * * * In 2005, longtime competitor BMG Direct Marketing, Inc. (formerly the RCA Music Service or RCA Victor Record Club) purchased Columbia House and consolidated operations. In 2008, the company (as well as book club operator Bookspan) was acquired by private investment group Najafi Companies, and its name was changed to Direct Brands, Inc. Although Direct Brands shut down music mail-order operations in mid-2009, it continued to use the Columbia House brand to market videos in the U.S. and Canada, selling DVDs and Blu-rays via the controversial practice of negative option billing. DB Media's Canadian assets ceased operating ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Privately Held Company
A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equity, company's stock is offered, owned, traded or exchanged privately, also known as "over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter". Related terms are unlisted organisation, unquoted company and private equity. Private companies are often less well-known than their public company, publicly traded counterparts but still have major importance in the world's economy. For example, in 2008, the 441 list of largest private non-governmental companies by revenue, largest private companies in the United States accounted for $1.8 trillion in revenues and employed 6.2 million people, according to ''Forbes''. In general, all companies that are not owned by the government are classified as private enterprises. This definition encompasses both publ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boston Phoenix
''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the now defunct ''Boston Phoenix'', ''Providence Phoenix'', ''Portland Phoenix'', and ''Worcester Phoenix''. These publications emphasized local arts and entertainment coverage as well as lifestyle and political coverage. The ''Portland Phoenix'', which folded in 2019, was revived a few months later by another company, New Portland Publishing. The newspaper closed in 2023. The papers, like most alternative weeklies, are somewhat similar in format and editorial content to ''The Village Voice''. History Origin ''The Phoenix'' was founded in 1965 by Joe Hanlon, a former editor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's student newspaper, '' The Tech''. Since many Boston-area college newspapers were printed at the same printing firm, Hanlon's idea was to do a four-page sing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Artists Records
United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1958, United Artists released an album of music from the film '' The Big Country'', for which composer Jerome Moross received an Academy Award nomination. In 1959, United Artists released ''Forest of the Amazons,'' a cantata by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos adapted from the music he composed for MGM's '' Green Mansions'', with the composer conducting the Symphony of the Air. Brazilian soprano Bidu Sayão was the featured soloist on the unusual recording, which was released on both LP and reel-to-reel tape. United Artists releases included soundtracks and cover versions from the James Bond movies, '' It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'' (1963), '' A Hard Day's Night'' starring the Beatles (1964), '' The Greatest Story Ever Told'' (196 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vanguard Records
Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w .... It was a primarily classical music, classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal jazz, folk music, folk, and blues musicians. The Bach Guild was a subsidiary label. The label was acquired by Concord Bicycle Music in April 2015. History The newly founded venture's first record was of J.S. Bach's 21st cantata, Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21, ''Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis'', BWV 21 ("I had much grief"), with Jonathan Sternberg conducting the tenor Hugues Cuénod and other soloists, chorus and orchestra. "What speaks for the Solomons' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kapp Records
Kapp Records was an independent record label started in 1954 by David Kapp, brother of Jack Kapp (who set up American Decca Records in 1934). David Kapp founded his own label after stints with Decca and RCA Victor. Kapp licensed its records to London Records for release in the UK. In 1967, David Kapp sold his label to MCA Inc. and the label was placed under Uni Records management; Kapp was consolidated with MCA's other record labels in 1971 and, in 1973, MCA Records released the last Kapp record. Catalogue albums that continued to sell were renumbered and reissued on the MCA label. Kapp's subsidiaries included Medallion Records (an audiophile label), Congress Records, Leader Records, and Four Corners Records with its "4 Corners of the World" logo. Four Corners was formed to promote European artists, such as Françoise Hardy, Raymond Lefèvre, and the Barclay Singers. Today, the Kapp Records catalog is owned by MCA's successor-in-interest Universal Music Group through its Geffen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warner Records
Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the American film studio Warner Bros. History Founding At the end of the silent movie period, Warner Bros. Pictures decided to expand into Music publisher (popular music), publishing and Sound recording and reproduction, recording so that it could access low-cost music content for its films. In 1928, the studio acquired several smaller music publishing firms which included M. Witmark & Sons, Harms Inc., and a partial interest in New World Music Corp., and merged them to form the Music Publishers Holding Company. This new group controlled valuable copyrights on Standard (music), standards by George Gershwin, George and Ira Gershwin and Jerome Kern, and the new division was soon earning solid profits of up to US$2 million every year. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released rock, funk, R&B, doo wop, soul music, blues, pop, rock and roll, and jazz records. In the United States, it is operated through Republic Records; in the United Kingdom and Japan (as Mercury Tokyo in the latter country), it is distributed by EMI Records. Background Mercury Records was started in Chicago in 1945 and over several decades, saw great success. The success of Mercury has been attributed to the use of alternative marketing techniques to promote records. The conventional method of record promotion used by major labels such as RCA Victor, Decca Records, and Capitol Records was dependent on radio airplay, but Mercury Records co-founder Irving Green decided to promote new records using jukeboxes instead. By lowering promotion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Verve Records
Verve Records is an active American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Cal Tjader, Nina Simone, Stan Getz, Bill Evans, Billie Holiday, Oscar Peterson, Jon Batiste, and Diana Krall among others as well as a diverse mix of other recordings that fall outside of jazz including albums from disparate artists like the Velvet Underground, Kurt Vile, Arooj Aftab, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention and many more. It absorbed the catalogues of Granz's earlier label, Clef Records, founded in 1946; Norgran Records, founded in 1953; and material which was previously licensed to Mercury Records. The label has continued to be the home to an eclectic mix of modern artists, including Kurt Vile, Everything But the Girl, Samara Joy and Arooj Aftab. The restructured Verve Records is now part of the Verve Label G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note in the United States in 1942 by Johnny Mercer, Buddy DeSylva, and Wallichs Music City, Glenn E. Wallichs. Capitol was acquired by British music conglomerate EMI as its North American subsidiary in 1955. EMI was acquired by Universal Music Group in 2012, and was merged with the company a year later, making Capitol and the Capitol Music Group both distributed by UMG. The label's Capitol Records Building, circular headquarters building is a recognized landmark of Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. History Founding Songwriter Johnny Mercer founded Capitol Records in 1942 with financial help from songwriter and film producer Buddy DeSylva and the business acumen of Glenn Wallichs, owner of Wallichs Music City. Mercer r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute ( ) is a city in Vigo County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and Terre Haute metropolitan area, its metropolitan area had a population of 168,716. Located along the Wabash River about east of the state border with Illinois, Terre Haute is one of the largest cities in the Wabash Valley and is known as the Queen City of the Wabash. The city is home to multiple higher-education institutions, including Indiana State University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana. It also contains the United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute, which houses the US federal death row. History Terre Haute's name is derived from the French phrase ''terre haute'' (pronounced in French), meaning "highland". It was named by French-Canadian explorers and fur trappers to the area in the early 18th century to describe the unique location above the Wabash Ri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Negative Option Billing
Negative option billing is a business practice in which customers are given goods or services that were not previously ordered, and must either continue to pay for the service or specifically decline it in advance of billing. This is, for example, the model on which mail order services, such as Columbia House, and other book clubs are structured. US law According to the Federal Trade Commission, unsolicited goods are considered a gift, and the recipient is not required to pay for or return them. This is different than situations where a customer signs up for a service or club without reading fine print and agrees to purchase goods through the mail. A notable example is the class-action lawsuit against Scholastic Corporation by consumers who felt "harassed, deceived, intimidated, and threatened" when they tried to cancel membership. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bookspan
Bookspan LLC is a New York–based online bookseller, founded in 2000. Bookspan began as a joint endeavor by Bertelsmann and Time Warner. Bertelsmann took over control in 2007, and a year later, sold its interest to Najafi Companies, an Arizona investment firm. Najafi held its ownership in a subsidiary named Direct Brands, which also held Najafi's ownership in the Columbia House record club. In 2013, Najafi sold its interest in Direct Brands to Pride Tree Holdings, a New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...–based media and consumer technology holding company founded in 2012 and incorporated in Delaware. References External links * (unsafe domain) American companies established in 2000 Internet properties established in 2000 Retail companies establis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
