Minos EMI is a

record company "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and t ...

based in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. The company serves as the Greek record label and offices of the multinational

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, ...

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

is credited for founding the record business in Greece in the 1930s, by producing the first records and building the country's first recording studio.

Founding of recorded music in Greece

In 1930, British

Columbia Graphophone Company Columbia Graphophone Co. Ltd. was one of the earliest gramophone companies in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1917 as an offshoot of the American Columbia Phonograph Company, it became an independent British-owned company in 1922 in a managem ...

and

Gramophone Company The Gramophone Company Limited was a British phonograph manufacturer and record label, founded in April 1898 by Emil Berliner. It was one of the earliest record labels. The company purchased the His Master's Voice painting and trademark righ ...

, which a year later merged to form

EMI Group EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

, formed a partnership along with Greek investor Lambropoulos Brothers Limited to produce records in Greece. By 1931, company operations were in full swing and the first disc produced in Greece had been pressed under the company name ''EMIAL''. After five years of using the halls of large hotels to record songs, EMIAL built Greece's first recording studio and became the front runner in the Greek music industry for many years. The company continued to be incorporated as EMIAL, although it predominantly used the trade name ''EMI Greece''. EMI's domestic Greek releases during this period generally came out bearing the company's British legacy labels, including Columbia,

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

, and

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

, as well as the Odeon label.

Merger with Minos Matsas & Son

In 1991, EMIAL purchased a controlling share of Minos Matsas & Son, founded by pioneering Greek music industry executive and prominent

rebetiko Rebetiko (, ), plural rebetika ( ), occasionally transliterated as rembetiko or rebetico, is a term used to designate previously disparate kinds of urban Greek music which in the 1930s went through a process of musical syncretism and develope ...

musician Minos Matsas, and relaunched the company under the name Minos EMI. At the time of the acquisition, "Minos Matsas & Son" was led by Makis Matsas, who became CEO of the new entity. It was identified that Minos EMI would command one-third of the Greek market, as Minos Matsas & Son held a 22% market share, while EMIAL held 9%. The labour union at Minos Matsas & Son was unsatisfied that EMI Greece (EMIAL) was now controlling Minos Matsas, as EMI Greece opted to engage in layoffs at Minos Matsas, instead of integrating the existing company into EMI Greece's operations. The two distribution centers merged at EMI Greece's historical building, which was located in the Athens suburb of Rizoupoli, while most of the remaining staff joined Minos Matsas' offices on Messogeion Avenue. EMI Greece CFO Panayotis Papalimberis was retained, while the artistic direction went to Minos A&R managers: Achileas Theofilou, Elias Benettos and Vangelis Yannopoulos. EMI Greece's foreign repertoire manager, Manos Xydous, was chosen to undertake a domestic A&R role by launching the EMI label

Harvest Records Harvest Records is a British-American record label belonging to Capitol Music Group, originally created by EMI in 1969. History Harvest Records was created by EMI in 1969 to market progressive rock music, and to compete with Philips' Vertigo ...

as a domestic repertoire imprint. Costas Bourmas was hired as managing director, who came from the same position at Sony Music Greece. The Minos label saw a continuity as a local A&R

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

. Artists not specifically under the Minos A&R operation, generally only carried the EMI label. The distinction of artists by imprint was usually only carried out on album covers, reflecting internal A&R management.

Heritage of the Minos EMI back catalogue

The Minos EMI back catalogue — from the inheritances of both the EMIAL and Minos Matsas & Son discographies — carries important works of Greek recorded music heritage in many different genres, although most notably in the genres of

Rebetiko Rebetiko (, ), plural rebetika ( ), occasionally transliterated as rembetiko or rebetico, is a term used to designate previously disparate kinds of urban Greek music which in the 1930s went through a process of musical syncretism and develope ...

and

Laïko Laïko or laïkó (, ; "

ong Ong or ONG may refer to: Arts and media * Ong's Hat, a collaborative work of fiction * “Ong Ong”, a song by Blur from the album The Magic Whip Places * Ong, Nebraska, US, city * Ong's Hat, New Jersey, US, ghost town * Ong River, Odisha, ...

of the people", "popular

; ) is a Greece, Greek folk-pop music genre in accordance with the tradition of the Greeks, Greek people. Also referred to as "folk song" or "urban folk music" () in its plural for ...

. Minos EMI actively exploits its catalogue by remastering works for re-releases, compilations and special releases, as well as through licensing to third-party strategic marketers. Select recordings from Minos EMI's catalogue have seen international release by labels within the EMI Group, including under

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

label EMI Hemisphere and

EMI Classics EMI Classics was a record label founded by Thorn EMI in 1990 to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogues for internationally distributed classical music releases. After Thorn EMI demerged in 1996, its recorded mus ...

. These collaborations began between EMI Hemisphere founder, Gerald Seligman, and Vangelis Yannopoulos, Minos EMI A&R and Strategic Manager.

Minos EMI in the 21st century

Since 2001, Minos EMI was the sole EMI label operation in Greece, following the closure of Virgin Records Greece. "EMI Music Greece" was the moniker used to refer to Minos EMI in an international context, following the EMI Group naming convention for national EMI offices around the world. Between 2002 and 2004, Minos EMI handled the distribution of BMG in Greece, having acquired the rights after the closure of BMG Greece. Following the global joint venture (between BMG and

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 ...

) forming

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

, Sony Music Greece saw its offices being converted to Sony BMG Greece. As a result of a (jointly-owned) BMG company being re-introduced into the Greek market (via Sony BMG Greece), the pre-existing distribution agreement with Minos EMI terminated under a clause allowing BMG to take back distribution should the company re-establish in Greece. As of mid-2008, music channel

MAD TV ''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series created by David Salzman, Fax Bahr, and Adam Small. Loosely based on the humor magazine '' Mad'', ''Mad TVs pre-taped satirical sketches were primarily parodie ...

discontinued its practice of marking music videos by imprint, instead opting to solely label all releases as EMI. As of late 2010, the discontinuation of the Minos label also began on the CD covers of Minos artists, also leaving all domestic releases marked only with the EMI label. In October 2010, Minos EMI entered into a 4-year agreement with the recently launched Greek edition of video sharing service

Dailymotion Dailymotion is a French online video platform, online video sharing platform owned by Canal+ S.A., Canal+. Prior to 2024, the company was owned by Vivendi. North American launch partners included Vice Media, Bloomberg L.P., Bloomberg, and Hears ...

, securing exclusive rights for Dailymotion to premiere all new music videos. The deal also called for the addition of over 1,000 new, old, and rare music videos, accessible to website's users worldwide.

Acquisition by Universal Music Group

Following the completion of the acquisition of

in September 2012, several European EMI operations were placed for sale to comply with European

competition law Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust ...

s, and were subsequently acquired by

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

. In the Greek market hitherto, Universal Music Group had its label operation, Universal Music Greece, which was chosen over Minos EMI to be included in the sale of European assets. As a result, Greece was the only European country where a Universal Music office was chosen for divestiture, instead of an EMI office. Universal Music Greece was acquired by Greek investors and relaunched as an

independent label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represente ...

named Cobalt Music(which was subsequently acquired by

Sony Music 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 ...

in December 2024). Upon the restructuring and integration of its operations, Universal Music Group chose to discontinue EMI worldwide as a standalone label. However continuity of the EMI brand was established through a dual branding approach with other EMI legacy labels, such as in the creation of

Virgin EMI Virgin EMI Records was a British record label owned by the Universal Music Group that was formed in 2013. In June 2020, the label was rebranded as EMI Records, and operates Virgin Records as an imprint of the new EMI Records. History Virgin ...

in the UK and through the preservation of "EMI Recorded Music Australia" in Australia and "Minos EMI" in Greece. These EMI-branded trademarks now stand as unique labels in their own right.

Artists

Past

Grigoris Bithikotsis Grigoris Bithikotsis (Greek Γρηγόρης Μπιθικώτσης, ; December 11, 1922 – April 7, 2005) was a Greek folk singer/songwriter with a career spanning five decades. He is considered one of the most important figures in Greek popular ...

Manos Hatzidakis Manos Hatzidakis (also spelled Hadjidakis; ; 23 October 1925 – 15 June 1994) was a Greek composer and theorist of Greek music, widely regarded as one of the greatest Greek composers of all time. He was one of the main proponents of the " Ént ...

Stelios Kazantzidis Stelios Kazantzidis (Greek: Στέλιος Καζαντζίδης; 29 August 1931 – 14 September 2001) was one of the most prominent Greek singers. He was of Pontian and Asia Minor roots. A top artist of Greek music, or Laïkó, he collaborat ...

* Stavros Kouyioumtzis * Christos Kyriazis *

Manos Loizos Manos may refer to: Films * ''The Hands'' (film) (Spanish: ''Las manos''), a 2006 Argentinean-Italian film * '' Manos: The Hands of Fate'', 1966 horror film Other uses * ''Manos'' (album), by The Spinanes * Manos (name) * Mano (stone) A mano ...

* Yannis Markopoulos *

Nikos Oikonomopoulos Nikolaos "Nikos" Oikonomopoulos (, ; born 30 June 1984)Peoplegreece. Retrieved on January 15, 2016 is a Greek singer. He appeared on the Greek talent show ''Dream Show – The Music 2'', of which he was the winner. He is the top contemporary male ...

Peggy Zina Panagiota-Calliope Zina (; born 8 March 1975), known professionally as Peggy Zina (), is a Greece, Greek singer. She made her recording debut in 1995 with her Peggy Zina (album), self-titled album. She has since released twelve studio albums and ...

Dimitris Mitropanos Dimitris Mitropanos (; 2 April 1948 – 17 April 2012) was a Greek singer. He was renowned for his mastery of Laïkó, a Greek music style. Biography Mitropanos lived in his native city of Trikala in northwest Thessaly until the age of 16, beg ...

Despina Vandi Despina Malea (; born 22 July 1969), known as Despina Vandi (), is a Greek singer. Born in Tübingen near Stuttgart, Germany, Vandi's family returned to Kavala, Greece when she was six years old. After moving to Athens in the early 1990s, Vandi ...

Pantelis Pantelidis Pantelis Pantelidis (; 23 November 1983 – 18 February 2016) was a Greek singer, songwriter and lyricist. He died on 18 February 2016 in a car crash. Biography Born on November 23, 1983, Pantelis Pantelidis grew up in Nea Ionia, a small suburb ...

* Giannis Papaioannou * Opikos Stounmbinto *

Mimis Plessas Dimitrios "Mimis" Plessas (; 12 October 1924 – 5 October 2024) was a Greek musician, composer, conductor and pianist. Life and career Plessas was born in Athens. He attended the Lycée Léonin school in the Athens suburb of Nea Smyrni, and ...

Mikis Theodorakis Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He scored for the films '' Zorba the Greek'' (1964), '' Z'' (1969), and '' Serpico'' (1973). He was a three-ti ...

Vassilis Tsitsanis Vassilis Tsitsanis ( 18 January 1915 – 18 January 1984) was a Greek songwriter and bouzouki player. He became one of the leading Greek composers of his time and is widely regarded as one of the founders of modern Rebetiko and Laiko music. Tsi ...

Markos Vamvakaris Markos Vamvakaris (; 10 May 1905 – 8 February 1972), was a Greek musician of ''rebetiko'', universally referred to by ''rebetiko'' writers and fans simply by his first name, Markos. The great significance of Vamvakaris for the rebetiko is als ...

Anna Vissi Anna Vissi (, , ; born 20 December 1957) is a Greek Cypriot singer. She studied music at conservatories and performed locally before moving to the professional scene in Athens, in 1973, where she signed with Minos EMI#Merger with Minos Matsas ...

* Mad Clip * STAN *

Stavros Xarchakos Stavros Xarchakos, Greek: Σταύρος Ξαρχάκος (born 14 March 1939) is a Greek composer and conductor. Stavros Xarchakos was born in Athens, where he studied at the Athens Conservatoire. He has family origins from the Mani Peninsul ...

* Maria Nomikou *

Natassa Theodoridou Natasa Theodoridou (; born 24 October 1970, in Thessaloniki) is a Greek singer. She is the only female Greek artist to have her first three albums achieve platinum status. She has been certified for a total of at least 432 thousand albums and 20 ...

* Maria Elena Kyriakou *

Evridiki Evridiki Theokleous (, ; born 25 February 1968), known mononymously as Evridiki, is a Greek Cypriot singer. She is best known in Europe for representing her home country, Cyprus, in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1992, 1994 and 2007 with the s ...

Lavrentis Machairitsas Lavrentis Machairitsas (; 5 November 1956 – 9 September 2019) was a Greek rock musician from Volos, Thessaly, Greece. Biography Early years Machairitsas was born in Volos and began taking piano lessons at the age of six. These lessons las ...

Loukas Yorkas Loukas Yorkas (; born 18 October 1986), is a Cypriot singer and the winner of the first season of the Greek version of the television talent series ''The X Factor''. In September 2009 he released his first EP album, ''Mazi'', which attained gold ...

* Harry Klynn

Current

Yiannis Parios Yiannis Parios () is a Greek singer, with a career spanning five decades. Biography Yiannis Parios was born Ioannis Varthakouris (Ιωάννης Βαρθακούρης) on the island of Paros. He made his first appearance as a singer in 1969 ...

* Giorgos Dalaras * Anna Rezan *

Sakis Rouvas Anastasios "Sakis" Rouvas (, ; born 5 January 1972), also known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Sakis, is a Greeks, Greek singer, actor, businessman and former pole vaulter. Born in Corfu, Rouvas won medals with Greece's U18 and U20 national sp ...

Giorgos Mazonakis Giorgos Mazonakis (, born 4 March 1972) is a Greek modern folk-pop and pop singer. Biography Giorgos Mazonakis was born and raised in the neighbourhood of Nikaia, Piraeus. He grew up listening to the traditional laiko songs of Stratos Dionysio ...

Elena Paparizou Helena Paparizou (; ; born 31 January 1982) is a Swedish-Greek singer, and television personality. Born and raised in Sweden to Greek parents, she launched her singing career in Sweden in 1999 as a member of the laïko (Greek folk music) and Eur ...

* Eleonora Zouganeli * Kostis Maraveyas * Giannis Kotsiras * Stavento *

Tamta Tamta Goduadze ( ka, თამთა გოდუაძე; ; ; born 10 January 1981), known mononymously as Tamta, is a Georgian-born Greek singer. She first achieved popularity in Greece in 2004 for her participation in '' Super Idol Greece' ...

* Toquel *

Panos Mouzourakis Panagiotis Mouzourakis (born 24 May 1979) is a Greek singer, songwriter, actor and artist. He is known for his participation in the Greek television series, ''Singles'' and ''4''. References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mouzourakis, ...

*SNIK *

Ivi Adamou Ivi Adamou (, ; born 24 November 1993) is a Greek Cypriot singer. Born and raised in Agia Napa, she rose to recognition in Greece and Cyprus following her participation in the The X Factor (Greece series 2), second season of the The X Factor (G ...

* Lakis Papadopoulos * Petros Iakovidis * Katahthonios * Ypohthonios *

Kostas Ageris Kostas or Costas () is a Greek given name and surname. As a given name, it can be a hypocorism for Konstantinos (Constantine). Given name * Costas Andreou, Greek musician * Kostas Antetokounmpo (born 1997), Greek basketball player * Costas Azaria ...

Yianna Terzi Ioanna "Yianna" Terzi (, ; born 1 December 1980) is a Greeks, Greek singer and songwriter. She Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Oniro mou". Biography Terzi was bor ...

* Katerine Duska *

Antique An antique () is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that i ...

Anastasia Anastasia (from ) is a feminine given name of Greek and Slavic origin, derived from the Greek word (), meaning "resurrection". It is a popular name in Eastern Europe. Origin The name Anastasia originated during the Early Christianity, early d ...

* Archolekas * Barbara Argyrou * Marseaux *

Onirama Onirama is a Greek pop rock band that has had a number of hits in Greece. They are known for their wide range of music, and party-like concerts. ''Onirama.gr''. Retrieved on July 10, 2008 Career 2000-2005: Beginnings & First successes Onirama was ...

Xenia Ghali Xenia Ghali (; born August 14, 1989) is a Greek songwriter, record producer and disc jockey. She is the founder of Funky Sheep Records, and is known for her dance music singles and fashion oriented videos. Early life Ghali was born in 1989 in P ...

* Katerina Lioliou * Rena Morfi * Iasonas Mandilas * Eirini Papadopoulou *

* Katerina Stikoudi *

Marina Satti Marina Satti (; born 26 December 1986) is a Greek singer, composer, music producer and actress. Her music combines Greek traditional music, traditional Greek, Arabic music, Arab and Balkan music, Balkan sounds with Urban music, urban elements, r ...

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Greek brands Pop record labels Companies based in Athens Entertainment companies established in 1931 Record labels established in 1931 IFPI members Universal Music Group Greek companies established in 1931