What is "parlophone"

Parlophone (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone Records Limited) is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the company was formed in 1923 as The Parlophone Co. Ltd., which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. In 1926, the Columbia Graphophone Company acquired Parlophone's business, label name and its releases. Columbia Graphophone later merged with the Gramophone Company in 1931 to become Electric & Musical Industries Limited ( EMI). George Martin joined EMI in 1950 as assistant label manager, taking over as manager in 1955. Martin produced and released a mix of product including comedy recordings of the Goons, the pianist Mrs Mills, and teen idol Adam Faith. In 1962 Martin signed the rising new Liverpool band The Beatles. With Cilla Black, Billy J. Kramer, The Fourmost and contemporary Mancunian band The Hollies also signed to the label, Parlophone in the 1960s became one of the world's most famous and prestigious record labels. For a long time Parlophone claimed the best-selling UK single, " She Loves You", and the best-selling UK album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The label also achieved placement of seven singles at No. 1 during 1964, when it also claimed top spot in the album charts for 40 of the 52 weeks during that year. The Parlophone Co. Ltd. continued as a division of EMI until it was merged into The Gramophone Co. Ltd. on 1 July 1965. On 1 July 1973, The Gramophone Co. Ltd. was renamed EMI Records Limited.

On 21 September 2012, regulators officially approved the Universal Music Group's planned acquisition of EMI, on condition that its EMI Records Ltd. group would be divested from the combined group. EMI Records Ltd., which included Parlophone and other labels to be divested, were operated in a single entity known as Parlophone Label Group, pending their sale. Warner Music Group (WMG) later acquired the group in February 2013, making it their third main-line label group alongside Warner Bros. Records and Atlantic Records (although WMG's distribution company is still called WEA International Inc., despite the fact that the third acronym company Elektra Records was absorbed by Atlantic in 2004). EMI Records Ltd. was renamed as Parlophone Records Limited in May 2013. Parlophone Records Limited is now the oldest of WMG's three groups.