Koch Entertainment was an American record label and a distributor of film, television, and music. It was purchased by Canadian entertainment company ROW Entertainment in 2005.

History

First years

The company began in 1975 as part of Koch International originally of Tirol, later of Munich. Founded by Tirolean banker Franz Koch, Koch was an independent Austrian record label, recording studio, and music distribution company that specialized in German Folk Music and later popular

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

recordings. For over 20 years, the international arm of the company operated under the name Koch Entertainment, a music, film, and television distribution & record label company that was started in 1987 by Franz's son Michael 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 ...

. In 1988, the parent Austrian company Koch acquired

Schwann Records Schwann may refer to: *The Schwann cell *Henry Schwann, English cricketer *Theodor Schwann Theodor Schwann (; 7 December 181011 January 1882) was a German physician and physiology, physiologist. His most significant contribution to biology is ...

from Schwann Verlag.

1990s

By 1991, Koch had become one of the first national independent distributors of domestic labels in the U.S. by offering an alternative to the traditional system of regional independent distribution or national major label distribution. In 1992, Koch was ranked #315 on ''

Inc. Magazine ''Inc.'' is an American business media company founded in 1979 and based in New York City. ''Inc.'' publishes several print magazine issues per year, and is anchored by journalistic content online and on social media, focused on entrepreneurship a ...

''s list of America's 500 fastest-growing private companies, and has since grown into an entertainment conglomerate. It acquired the specialist German label Schwann, Koch expanded into the Canadian market in 1995 by forming the

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

-based

Koch Entertainment Canada Koch Entertainment was an American record label and a distributor of film, television, and music. It was purchased by Canadian entertainment company Lionsgate Canada, ROW Entertainment in 2005. History First years The company began in 1975 as ...

. In 1996, Koch International took over Discover, a budget label which had been set up by conductor Ali Rahbari to challenge the dominance in the budget classical sector of Naxos. The new Koch Discover International was to be jointly controlled by Franz Koch and Rahbari. The Austrian parent Koch divested Schwann to Deutsche Grammophone's parent Universal Music GmbH in 2002.

2000s

In 2003, Koch formed the DVD label Koch Lorber in collaboration with Richard Lorber. In 2005, Koch was acquired by the Canadian company ROW Entertainment (later Entertainment One, now

Lionsgate Canada Lionsgate Canada is a Canadian entertainment company and a subsidiary of Lionsgate Studios. Based in Toronto, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition and production of films and television series. The company began on June 1, 1973 ...

References

{{Authority control Defunct companies based in New York (state) Defunct entertainment companies Lionsgate Canada Former Lionsgate subsidiaries Entertainment companies of the United States Entertainment companies established in 1975 Entertainment companies disestablished in 2005 2005 mergers and acquisitions