SBK Records was a record label, owned by

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, ...

, that is currently part of the

Capitol Music Group Capitol Music Group is an American front-line umbrella label operating as a unit of Interscope Capitol Labels Group, itself a division of Universal Music Group. Inherited from UMG's acquisition of EMI's catalog in 2013, it oversees the handling of ...

, where it is in hibernation. The label was founded in 1988 and during its time in activity existed as part of the EMI Group.

History

Stephen Swid, Martin Bandier and Charles Koppelman formed SBK Entertainment in 1989 after they purchased the music publishing division of CBS Records, CBS Songs, in 1986 for $125 million. CBS Songs was subsequently renamed to SBK Songs. The name is an

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

incorporating the first letter of the founders' surnames. The partners sold the company to

EMI Music Publishing EMI Music Publishing Ltd. is a British multinational music publishing company headquartered in London, owned by Sony Music Publishing. In May 2018, Sony Music Publishing agreed to increase its stake in EMI to 90%, pending regulatory approva ...

(for a reported US$295 million), afterward SBK Songs was renamed EMI Songs and with support of Capitol Records launched SBK Records. It was distributed through the short-lived EMI Records Group North America, or ERG. In 1989, Daniel Glass joined SBK as Senior Vice President of Promotion. In 1990, Glass was promoted to Executive Vice President/General Manager. With the consolidation of SBK, Chrysalis USA, Wild Pitch and EMI Records USA several years later into EMI Records Group North America, he rose to President-CEO. The label had several hits with Vanilla Ice, Waterfront, Jesus Jones,

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer-songwriter and DJ who rose to fame as the lead singer of the pop band Culture Club. He began his solo career in 1987. Boy George grew up in Eltham a ...

Wilson Phillips Wilson Phillips is an American pop vocal group formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The group consists of sisters Carnie and Wendy Wilson, the daughters of Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, and Chynna Phillips, the daughter of John and Michelle Phi ...

, Grayson Hugh, Jon Secada, Ya Kid K, McQueen Street, Technotronic, Blur, Billy Dean and Everyday People. SBK Records was part of the EMI Group, but became dormant as of 2007, when Martin Bandier left EMI Music Publishing for Sony Corp.'s Sony Music Publishing. EMI (and SBK Entertainment World assets) was sold in 2012 to two different entities and split up with most of the recorded music division to Universal and music publishing division to Sony-led consortium. SBK also signed the first Latino MC to a major label, Ray Roll, from the famed Rock Steady Crew, and Selena, the first female crossover Latin artist. The 1994 album ''

The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest wor ...

'' by

Milla Jovovich Milica Bogdanovna Jovović; ; ( ; born December 17, 1975), known professionally as Milla Jovovich (), is an American actress and former fashion model. Her starring roles in numerous science fiction film, science-fiction and action films led th ...

was released through SBK and was critically acclaimed. The album is still in print since its release. It also published the first ever ''

Barney & Friends ''Barney & Friends'' is an American children's television series created by Sheryl Leach targeted at children ages two to five. The flagship production of the ''Barney'' franchise, it originally aired on PBS under the PBS Kids brand from Ap ...

'' album ''Barney's Favorites, Volume 1''. SBK music publishing catalog (SBK/EMI Songs and April Music) is now controlled by Sony Music Publishing, and the recorded music catalog is now controlled by Universal Music Group. SBK Records was shut down in July 1997, with all of its employees being let go.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sbk Records Defunct record labels of the United States Labels distributed by Universal Music Group Pop record labels Record labels disestablished in 1997 Record labels established in 1988 Sony Music Publishing

History

See also

References