CBS Records International was the international arm of the

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

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 North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, such as

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by Netherlands, Dutch electronics company Philips and in 1999 was absorbed into Netherlands, Dutch-United States, American music corporation Universal Music Group. It was founded as Philips Phonograph ...

and its subsidiary Fontana (now part of the

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

) in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Formation and history

In 1960, CBS acquired its Australian distributor since 1956, the Australian Record Company, and with it its

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

label Coronet Records. American Columbia material continued to be issued on the CBS Coronet Records label in Australia. The CBS label was launched in Australia in 1963. Also in 1960, CBS began negotiations with its European distributor

with the goal of the establishment of a CBS Records label in Europe. Philips' acquisition of

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 ...

paved the way for the formation of the CBS label in 1961 with Philips distributing the first batch of CBS recordings in Europe in 1962. Zamba de mi esperanza - Jorge Cafrune - Vinilo

Zamba de mi esperanza - Jorge Cafrune - Vinilo

The use of the CBS name was required because EMI owned another record label called Columbia, which operated in every market except North America,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. In 1964, CBS acquired Oriole Records which gave CBS Records its own distribution in the UK, beginning in 1965. Initially, only American Columbia product was distributed alongside Oriole's own roster on the renamed CBS label. EMI, which had distributed American Columbia recordings on its Columbia label until the Philips deal in 1951, continued to distribute CBS's other American labels, such as

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

and

Okeh OKeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name originally was spelled "OkeH" from the init ...

, on that label. The distribution deal with EMI expired in 1968, at which point CBS began distributing all their labels directly. In Germany, the CBS label distributed

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

from 1963 to 1965.

Sale to Sony

CBS sold the record company in January 1988 to

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

for $US 2 billion. In 1991, the CBS Records company was renamed

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

. The CBS Records label was renamed Columbia Records after Sony acquired the Columbia name and trade marks from EMI.

Presidents of CBS Records International

* Harvey Schein, 1962–1971 * Walter Yetnikoff, 1971–1975Billboard – Google Books
Books.google.com (1971-07-31). Retrieved on 2013-07-16. * Allen A. Davis, c. 1980 * Bob Summer, 1986–1991

References

{{Authority control American record labels Columbia Records Record labels established in 1961 Record labels disestablished in 1991

Formation and history

Sale to Sony

Presidents of CBS Records International

See also

References