Arcade Records was a British record company specialised in multi-artist compilation albums (often in the mid-price or budget price ranges), founded in 1972. In the 1970s, it found itself in direct competition with
K-tel
K-tel International Ltd is a Canadian company which formerly specialized in selling consumer products through infomercials and live demonstration. Its products include compilation music albums, including ''The Super Hits'' series, ''The Dynamic ...
and other compilation labels. Some Arcade albums reached Number 1 but have never had an official UK release on CD...These are 20 Fantastic Hits, The Best Of Roy Orbison & Jim Reeves 40 Golden Greats. In the 1980s, the original company was sold to Dutch entrepreneur
Herman Heinsbroek, who expanded it into a worldwide multi-media company.
History
Arcade Records was founded in 1972 by Laurence Myers, a British music industry professional who had been working in music management and production for various top British artists such as
The Animals
The Animals, currently billed as Eric Burdon & the Animals (featuring original frontman Eric Burdon) and also as Animals & Friends (featuring original drummer John Steel (drummer), John Steel), are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Ne ...
,
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
and The
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
. In the early 1970s, he realised that many music consumers were hometaping their favourite songs in order to create a mixtape of current top hits or the best songs by one artist. Myers copied this trend by releasing multi-artist and one-artist compilation albums.
Arcade currently serves as a digital platform which compiles playlists for
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...
based on Arcade's catalogues.
See also
*
K-tel
K-tel International Ltd is a Canadian company which formerly specialized in selling consumer products through infomercials and live demonstration. Its products include compilation music albums, including ''The Super Hits'' series, ''The Dynamic ...
*
List of record labels
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File:AmMusicBunk78.jpg
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Lists of record labels cover record labels, brands or trademarks associated with marketing of music recordings and music videos. The lists are organized alphabetically, ...
References
Sources
Arcade on Rate Your MusicArcade discographyRoadrunner Arcade Music discography
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Dutch record labels
Record labels established in 1972
Record labels disestablished in 2001