Warner Classics is the

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 ...

arm of

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 ...

. The label began issuing new recordings under the Warner Classics banner in 1991. The company also includes the

Erato Records Erato Records is a record label founded in 1953 as Erato Disques S.A. by Philippe Loury to promote French classical music. Loury was head of éditions musicales Costallat. His first releases in France were licensed from the Haydn Society of Bo ...

and Teldec Records labels. Based in France, Warner Classics also distributes the Elektra Nonesuch, Finlandia, Lontano, NVC Arts, Warner Apex, Warner Elatus and Warner Fonit labels.

History

What was then known as Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, which owned Warner Bros. Records and

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

, acquired

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

in 1969 which included Elektra's

Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, Nonesuch ...

classical music label. This led to the formation of WEA, the forerunner of

. Nonesuch is now part of Warner Records. WEA acquired Teldec Records in 1988. Warner Classics was formed in 1991. The renamed

acquired

in 1992.

acquired the classical video company NVC Arts in 1994. The label developed a larger profile in 2013 when it absorbed EMI Classics (including

Pye Records PYE or Pye Records is an independent British record label. It was first established in 1955 and played a major role in shaping rock 'n' roll and pop music history. The Pye name was dropped in 1980 due to trademark issues, after which it produced ...

' classical music catalogue) with that label's output absorbed into the Warner Classics label and the co-owned

Virgin Classics Virgin Classics was a record label founded in 1988 as part of Richard Branson's Virgin Records. The unit, along with EMI Classics, was acquired by Universal Music Group in 2012 as part of the takeover of the EMI Music Group, however the terms o ...

absorbed into

.EMI Classics and Virgin Classics to join Warners – Classic FM Music News and Features
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References

External links

* {{Authority control Warner Music labels Record labels established in 1991 Labels distributed by Warner Music Group 1991 establishments in the United States Classical music record labels