110-449: Cinematic Music Group is an American record label, management, publishing & touring company distributed by Geffen Records founded in 2007 by Jonny Shipes . Their roster as of 2020 consists of Joey Bada$ $ , Pro Era , T-Pain , Smoke DZA , Va$ htie , Mick Jenkins , G Herbo , Caveman , Public Access TV , Flipp Dinero , and others. In August 2023, Shipes sold Cinematic's recording catalogue to Interscope Geffen A&M and formed
220-500: A distribution deal with American Decca until 1962 when distribution switched to MGM Records . Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre is a wholly owned subsidiary specialising in European classical music of the 15th to 19th centuries. American Decca's jazz catalogue is managed by GRP Records , an imprint of Verve Records . The American Decca rock/pop catalogue is managed by Geffen Records . American distribution of British Decca's rock/pop catalogue
330-434: A financial interest in the new label. In 1934 Guy Lombardo also recorded for Decca. Decca became a major player in the depressed American record market thanks to its roster of popular artists, particularly Bing Crosby , the shrewd management of former US Brunswick general manager Jack Kapp , and the decision to price Decca at 35 cents. The US label also brought back the discontinued Champion label (from Gennett), as well as
440-564: A full roster of stars, including Cecilia Bartoli and Renée Fleming . Its back catalogue includes several landmarks and critically acclaimed recordings, such as the Solti Ring , voted the greatest recording of all time by critics with the BBC Music Magazine , and Luciano Pavarotti remained an exclusive Decca artist throughout his recording career. In 2017, Universal Music revived Decca's American classical music arm as Decca Gold under
550-408: A greatly enhanced frequency range (high and low notes) to be captured on recordings. Critics regularly commented on the startling realism of the new Decca recordings. The frequency range of ffrr was 80–15000 Hz, with a signal-to-noise ratio of 60 dB. While Decca's early ffrr releases on 78-rpm discs had some noticeable surface noise , which diminished the effects of the high fidelity sound,
660-661: A look at the Stones, who he had just seen live for the first time a couple of weeks earlier. Rowe saw the Stones and quickly signed them to a contract. Decca also released the first recording of Rod Stewart in 1964, "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl"/"I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town". Decca also signed up many rock artists ( The Moody Blues , The Zombies , The Applejacks , Dave Berry , Lulu , Alan Price ), The Marmalade , with varying degrees of success. Staff producer Hugh Mendl (1919–2008) worked for Decca for over 40 years and played
770-524: A major hit label on the US R&;B and pop charts as Bill Haley's popularity started to fade, in the late 1950s. Decca's strong country catalogue did very well throughout this period and they had several crossover-to-pop hits, as well as the blockbuster success of Brenda Lee , but many R&B and rock music artists passed through Decca with little success ( The Flamingos , Billy Ward and his Dominoes , Bobby Darin , The Shirelles , etc.) American Decca embraced
880-404: A modified IVC model 826P open-reel 1-inch VTR , connected to a custom codec unit with time code capability (using a proprietary time code developed by Decca), as well as outboard DAC and ADC units connected to the codec unit. The codec recorded audio to tape in 18-bit linear PCM at 48 kHz, with a maximum of eight channels. Later versions of the system used 20-bit recording. Except for
990-421: A new generation of high-resolution and multi-channel recordings, including Super Audio CD (SACD) and DVD-Audio (DVD-A) formats. Decca is now routinely mastering new recordings in these formats. Decca Special Products developed products for the audio marketplace and a line of home audio equipment. American Decca bought Universal-International in 1952, and eventually merged with MCA Inc. in 1962, becoming
1100-405: A new music company named GoodTalk. Cinematic Music Group made one of its earliest signings in 2007 with Harlem’s Smoke DZA. That same year, Cinematic signed Sean Kingston whose self-titled debut album included two #1 Billboard singles, including the double platinum "Beautiful Girls." The album sold in excess of 1,000,000 units. Cinematic’s next signee, West Coast MC Nipsey Hussle , signed to
1210-551: A new record label, clothing and festivals verticals, and 4Lifers Entertainment, the film and TV production company he and Druski co-founded. Geffen Records Geffen Records (formerly Geffen Records Inc. until 2004) is an American record label , founded in late 1980 by David Geffen . Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pictures , it is owned by the Interscope Geffen A&;M (IGA) faction of Universal Music Group (UMG). Geffen has been
SECTION 10
#17331247019511320-565: A non-reciprocal right to license and issue American Decca recordings in the UK on their Brunswick (US Decca recordings) and Coral (US Brunswick and Coral recordings) labels; this arrangement continued until 1967 when a UK branch of MCA was established utilizing the MCA Records label, with distribution fluctuating between British Decca and other English companies over time. In Canada, the Compo Company
1430-608: A part of IGA since 1999 and has been used by Universal Music as a syndicating division of Interscope Records , serving its purpose to operate as a premier label for many new releases since 2003 and its 2017 reboot. At the same time, it is projected to reissue many releases from recording labels (some of which have been directly absorbed into Geffen) such as Decca Records (exclusively the American pop/rock catalog), Kapp Records , DreamWorks Records , MCA Records , Uni Records , Chess Records , Almo Sounds (Interscope has managed reissues of
1540-514: A part of UMG during its preceding MCA days from 1988 to 1993). In the ensuing months, a number of corporate reshufflings occurred, resulting in Geffen and A&M, on New Year's Eve 1998, being merged into Interscope Geffen A&M Records . Interscope Geffen A&M became one of Universal Music Group's four new label factions alongside the Verve Label Group , Universal Motown Republic Group and
1650-563: A reversal of the usual situation, in which American Decca had released original Broadway cast albums of three Rodgers and Hammerstein shows, this was the only film soundtrack album of a Rodgers and Hammerstein show ever released by Decca, while the Broadway cast album had been released by Columbia Masterworks. The American RCA label severed its longtime affiliation with EMI 's His Master's Voice (HMV) label in 1957, which allowed British Decca to market and distribute Elvis Presley 's recordings in
1760-482: A series of recordings with Paddy Roberts (best known for "The Ballad of Bethnal Green"), numerous "original cast" and soundtrack albums including Oh! What a Lovely War and even an LP record of the 1966 Le Mans 24-hour race, inspired by his lifelong passion for motor racing. Mendl was a driving force in the establishment of Decca's progressive Deram label, most notably as the executive producer of The Moody Blues ' groundbreaking 1967 LP Days of Future Passed . He
1870-451: A short-lived version of the Broadway label. The following year, the pressing and Canadian distribution of US Decca records was licensed to Compo Company Ltd. in Lachine, Quebec , a breakaway and rival of Berliner Gram-o-phone Co. of Montreal , Quebec. (Compo was acquired by Decca in 1951 although its Apex label continued in production for the next two decades.) By 1939, Decca and EMI were
1980-496: A significant role in its success in the popular field from the 1950s to the late 1970s. His first major production credit was pianist Winifred Atwell . He produced Rock Island Line , the breakthrough skiffle hit for Lonnie Donegan , and he is credited as the first executive to spot the potential of singer-actor Tommy Steele . Mendl's other productions included the first album by humorist Ivor Cutler , Who Tore Your Trousers? (1961), Frankie Howerd at The Establishment (1963),
2090-490: A staff exchange that July, longtime Interscope executive Nicole Bilzerian was drafted to Geffen to become its executive vice president. Olivia Rodrigo joined Geffen in the fall of 2020. Her single, " Drivers License ", made the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 2021. That May, she released her debut album, Sour . It accumulated 295,000 album-equivalent units. Its five-week reign at number one on
2200-662: A subsidiary company under MCA. Dissatisfied with American Decca's promotion of British Decca recordings and because American Decca held the rights to the name Decca in the US and Canada, British Decca sold its records in the United States and Canada under the label London Records beginning in 1947. In Britain, London Records became a mighty catch-all licensing label for foreign recordings from the nascent post-WW II American independent and semi-major labels such as Cadence, Dot, Chess, Atlantic, Imperial and Liberty. Conversely, British Decca retained
2310-481: A twenty-minute version of Moby Dick , with Charles Laughton as Captain Ahab, and The Littlest Angel , narrated by Loretta Young . British Decca released on LP, in 1968, the most complete version of Man of La Mancha ever put on vinyl records, a 2-LP album featuring most of the dialogue and all of the songs, performed by the show's original London cast. Keith Michell starred as Don Quixote and Cervantes, and Joan Diener
SECTION 20
#17331247019512420-504: Is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis . Its US label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp (the first president of the Decca Record company of the USA) and Milton Rackmil , who later became American Decca's president too. In 1937, anticipating Nazi aggression leading to World War II , Lewis sold American Decca, and the link between the UK and US Decca label
2530-513: Is branching out into pop music from established recording stars: in 2007 its Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA by Boyz II Men reached No. 27 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. In 2007 they won the race to sign English teen jazz sensation Victoria Hart and released her first album Whatever Happened to Romance in July. In December 2007, it was announced that Morrissey would be joining
2640-915: Is credited with battling against Decca's notorious parsimonious treatment of their artists, ensuring that the Moody Blues had the time and resources to develop beyond their beat group origins into progressive rock, and he also used profits for pop sales to cross-subsidise recordings by avant-garde jazz artists like John Surman . British Decca lost a key source for American records when Atlantic Records switched British distribution to Polydor Records in 1966 for Atlantic to gain access to British recording artists which they did not have under Decca distribution. The Rolling Stones left Decca in 1970, and other artists followed. Decca's deals with numerous other record labels began to fall apart: RCA Records , for instance, abandoned Decca to set up its own UK office in June 1969, just before
2750-417: Is handled by Island Records . The Decca Broadway imprint is used for both newly recorded musical theatre songs and Universal Music Group's vast catalogues of musical theatre recordings from record labels UMG and predecessor companies acquired over the years. On 10 January 2011, Universal Music Group, which owns the masters to Decca Records, announced that it was donating 200,000 of its master recordings from
2860-577: The Billboard 200 became the longest by a female recording artist that year. Sour also made Rodrigo the first Geffen recording artist and first female artist overall to have a number one album under the label in nearly 13 years since Mary J. Blige's Growing Pains (2007). Rodrigo followed up Sour in 2023 with Guts . Released in September, it once again debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, though its first week units were moderately slim behind
2970-471: The Boyd Neel ensemble (Purcell Club, 14 sides, issued February 1936 ); and Henderson's famous pupil Kathleen Ferrier was recorded and issued by Decca through the period of transition from 78 to LP (1946–1952). Heinrich Schlusnus made pre-war lieder recordings for Decca. Decca's emergence as a major classical label may be attributed to three concurrent events: the emphasis on technical innovation (initially
3080-667: The Holy See to produce an album of Marian songs and prayers from Pope Benedict XVI . Interscope Geffen A&M chairman and CEO Jimmy Iovine relaunched Geffen in 2011, moving its headquarters from Santa Monica to New York City . Former manager of Kanye West , Gee Roberson was appointed chairman. However, in late 2013, the label went idle with a majority of Geffen's artists now recording under Interscope. On May 28, 2014, Iovine departed from Interscope Geffen A&M as its chairman and CEO and hired Fueled by Ramen co-founder John Janick as his replacement. In March 2017, Neil Jacobson
3190-648: The Island Def Jam Music Group . However, the IGA merger resulted in Geffen firing 110 of its employees. Unlike A&M, which was closed entirely, Geffen was able to continue existing as a one-off brand under Interscope Records . At the same time, international distribution of Interscope and Geffen releases respectively switched from BMG Distribution and Island Records UK to ex-PolyGram label Polydor Records , which had already been distributing A&M releases overseas (in return for A&M handling Polydor releases in
3300-567: The New York Stock Exchange as Decca Records Inc. Therefore, the two Deccas became separate companies and remained so until American Decca's parent company bought British Decca's parent company in 1998 (during this time, US Decca artists were issued in the UK on the Brunswick label until 1968 when MCA Records was launched in the UK). In 1940, American Decca released the first album of songs from
3410-578: The 1920s to the 1940s to the United States Library of Congress. The collection of master recordings will be cleaned and digitised. Included in this group are Bing Crosby's original recording of 'White Christmas' and thousands more by Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Judy Garland, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, the Andrews Sisters, and other famous and lesser-known musicians who recorded during this time. Because of this transaction, once
Cinematic Music Group - Misplaced Pages Continue
3520-474: The 1939 film The Wizard of Oz . However, it was not a soundtrack album but a cover version featuring only Judy Garland from the film, with other roles taken by the Ken Darby Singers. In 1942, American Decca released the first recording of " White Christmas " by Bing Crosby . He recorded another version of the song in 1947 for Decca; to this day, Crosby's recording of "White Christmas" for Decca remains
3630-640: The 1960s and 1970s, the company developed its "Phase 4" process which produced even greater sonic impact through even more interventionist engineering techniques. Big-band leader Ted Heath was an early pioneer of the Decca "Phase 4" sound. Decca recorded some quadrophonic masters that were released in Sansui 's quadraphonic system called QS Regular Matrix. Starting in late 1978, British Decca developed its own digital audio recorders used in-house for recording, mixing, editing, and mastering albums. Each recorder consisted of
3740-450: The 90s sound. In 2013, Shipes expanded the roster of Cinematic and signed indie R&B/electronic duo ASTR. ASTR released their “Varsity” EP in January 2014. On July 16, 2014, Cinematic Music Group President Jonny Shipes announced the signing of Chicago emcee Mick Jenkins whose "The Water[s]" album was released, and received a rave review from Stereogum . Jenkins finished off 2014 by touring
3850-614: The Decca label, Linfair Records also distributes V2 Records' releases and some independent labels. However, Linfair Records' releases outside Taiwan will continue to be released internationally via Universal Music. The Decca label is currently in use by Universal Music Group worldwide; this is possible because Universal Studios (which officially dropped the MCA name after the Seagram buyout in 1996) acquired PolyGram, British Decca's parent company in 1998, thus consolidating Decca trademark ownership. In
3960-551: The Decca roster. In August 2009, it was revealed that American Idol alum, Clay Aiken , had signed with Decca. It reentered the American country music scene in 2008. There are two Universal Music label groups now using the Decca name. The Decca Label Group is the US label whereas the London-based Decca Music Group runs the international classical and pop releases by such world-famous performers as Andrea Bocelli and Hayley Westenra . The London Records pop label that
4070-669: The Grimethorpe Colliery Band , as well as the composers themselves. For many years, Decca's British classical recordings had been issued in the US under the London Records label because the existence of the American Decca company precluded the use of that name on British recordings distributed in the US. The practice was no longer necessary when the MCA and PolyGram labels merged in 1999 and created Universal Music. Today Decca makes fewer major classical recordings but still has
4180-547: The IVC VTRs (which were modified to Decca's specifications by IVC's UK division in Reading ), all the electronics for these systems were developed and manufactured in-house by Decca (and by contractors to them as well). These digital systems were used for mastering most of Decca's classical music releases to both LP and CD and were used well into the late 1990s. After the start of the new century, Decca became actively involved in pioneering
4290-618: The Kinks , the Who , and Manfred Mann . Decca had earlier accepted London-born pioneer rock'n'roll singer Terry Dene , who was later known as the British Elvis Presley, and another Merseyside singer, Billy Fury . The turning down of The Beatles led indirectly to the signing of one of Decca's biggest 1960s artists, The Rolling Stones . Dick Rowe was judging a talent contest with George Harrison , and Harrison mentioned to him that he should take
4400-639: The Library has organised and cleaned the collection, the public will eventually have some degree of access to thousands of recordings that have been commercially unavailable for decades. According to the Los Angeles Times , "[a]s part of the agreement between UMG and the library, Universal retains ownership of the recording copyrights and the right to exploit the cleaned-up and digitized files for commercial purposes." Today, Decca distributes UMG's jazz holdings led by Blue Note Records and Verve Records along with
4510-454: The MCA, DGC and DreamWorks labels, along with the signage of new acts such as Ashlee Simpson , Angels & Airwaves and Snoop Dogg , had boosted the company to the extent that it began gaining equal footing with the main Interscope label, leading some industry insiders to speculate that it could revert to operating as an independently managed imprint at UMG again. In 2006, musician Ron Fair
Cinematic Music Group - Misplaced Pages Continue
4620-573: The Moon ", while he was an undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge, and Edward Lewis recruited him as his personal assistant and "talent spotter". But contemporary punk rock signings such as Slaughter & the Dogs and the pre-stardom Adam and the Ants (whose sole single with Decca, " Young Parisians ", would later be a UK Top 10 hit on the back of the band's success at CBS ), were second division when compared to
4730-465: The Oscar-winning film, they quickly released a stereo version in 1958. Because American Decca bought Universal Pictures in 1952, many of these soundtrack albums were of films released by what was then called Universal-International Pictures. In June and July 1957, Decca Records released the soundtracks from Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions ' film Sweet Smell of Success . It was a landmark event in
4840-457: The Pioneers , Stuart Hamblen , The Ranch Boys, and other popular acts based in both New York and Los Angeles. Louisiana singer/composer Jimmie Davis began recording for Decca the same year, joined by western vocalists Jimmy Wakely and Roy Rogers in 1940. From the late 1940s on, the US arm of Decca had a sizeable roster of country artists. The main architect of Decca's success in country music
4950-505: The Rolling Stones decided to also abandon Decca in favour of forming their label. The Moody Blues were the only international rock act that remained on the label. The company's fortunes declined slightly during the 1970s, and it had few major commercial successes; among those were Dana's 1970 two-million selling single, " All Kinds of Everything ", issued on their subsidiary label Rex Records . Although Decca had set up Deram in 1966,
5060-554: The U.S.); A&M was forced to remain as a one-off active label for Interscope following a lawsuit by its co-founders Jerry Moss and Herb Alpert , which was later settled in 2003. In October 1999, Jordan Schur (of Flip Records ) was declared Geffen's new president; this led to Schur stepping down as the head of Flip, but he still managed to maintain control of the label, while certain acts from Flip's roster, such as Cold and Professional Murder Music , were transferred over to Geffen. Geffen's first release under Schur's leadership
5170-509: The UK. on the RCA label (later RCA Victor). British Decca had several missed opportunities. In 1960, they refused to release " Tell Laura I Love Her " by licensed artist Ray Peterson and even destroyed thousands of copies of the single. In 1962, Decca famously turned down a chance to record The Beatles , believing "guitar groups are on the way out." Other refusals of note include the Yardbirds ,
5280-583: The US Decca label became MCA Records , which formed half of what is now Universal Music Group (UMG). The UK and US divisions of the former Decca label were combined under UMG in 1998 and the MCA brand was retired in 2003 (with the exception of the American MCA Nashville country music imprint). The name dates back to a portable gramophone called the "Decca Dulcephone" patented in 1914 by musical instrument makers Barnett Samuel and Sons. The name "Decca"
5390-579: The US, the Decca country music label was shut down and the London classical label was renamed as it was able to use the Decca name for the first time because of the merger that created Universal Music. In 1999, Decca absorbed Philips Records to create the Decca Music Group (half of Universal Music Classics Group in the US, with Deutsche Grammophon being the other half). Today, Decca is a leading label for both classical music and Broadway scores although it
5500-591: The United States and peak at number one on Billboard 's Hot Latin Songs chart. In December 2019, Neil Jacobson vacated his position as the president of Geffen, leaving to start his own company, Crescent Drive Productions. The following month to a new year, in mid-January 2020, Lee L'Heureux was appointed the general manager of Geffen. The label then started to see more success from artists Rod Wave , Lil Durk , Yungblud and Hotboii (the former two were signed to Geffen through Todd Moscowitz 's Alamo Records). In
5610-759: The artist's debut. Also, in 2023, Interscope artist Kali Uchis was drafted to Geffen before releasing her sophomore album, Red Moon in Venus , earlier that March. The album peaked at number four on the Billboard 200, another top five charting success for the label that year. Since 2024, Geffen has been a part of Universal Music Group's Interscope Capitol Labels Group. In July 2024, longtime former Geffen Records president Ed Rosenblatt, who served as president of Geffen Records from its inception in 1980 through its glory years of Guns N’ Roses , Nirvana , Don Henley and countless others, died. Decca Records Decca Records
SECTION 50
#17331247019515720-434: The best-selling single worldwide of all time. In 1943, American Decca ushered in the age of the original cast album in the United States, when they released an album set of nearly all the songs from Rodgers and Hammerstein 's Oklahoma! , performed by the same cast who appeared in the show on Broadway , and using the show's orchestra, conductor, chorus, and musical and vocal arrangements. The enormous success of this album
5830-761: The charts, Lennon was murdered in New York City. Subsequently, the album went on to sell millions and gave Geffen its first number-one album and single; the rights to the album would later be taken over by EMI , which eventually would be absorbed by Geffen's then-future parent, Universal Music Group in 2012. As the mid-1980s progressed, Geffen would go on to have extended success with such acts as Asia , Berlin , Enya , Kylie Minogue , Quarterflash , Wang Chung , and Sammy Hagar . The label also signed several established acts such as Elton John , Irene Cara , Cher , Debbie Harry , Don Henley , Joni Mitchell , Neil Young , Peter Gabriel , and Jennifer Holliday . Toward
5940-477: The classical music field in 1950 with distribution deals from Deutsche Grammophon and Parlophone . American Decca began issuing its classical music recordings in 1956 when Israel Horowitz joined Decca to head its classical music operations. To further American Decca's dedication to serious music, in August 1950, Rackmill announced the release of a new series of disks to be known as the "Decca Gold Label Series" which
6050-524: The company in 2010 and was included on XXL’s Annual Freshman List In 2010, Shipes signed Big K.R.I.T., who that same year released his mixtape "Krit Wuz Here" KRIT followed up this success with his “Returnof4eva” mixtape in March 2011. K.R.I.T debuted the #1 hip hop album on the billboard charts with his debut album Live from the Underground . In 2010 Cinematic added Vashtie Kola, an artist, designer, and DJ to
6160-424: The conductor had led at its first performance in 1919. John Culshaw , who joined Decca in 1946 in a junior role, quickly rose to become a senior producer of classical recordings. He revolutionised recording – of opera , in particular. Hitherto, the practice had been to put microphones in front of the performers and simply record their performance. Culshaw was determined to make recordings that would be 'a theatre of
6270-439: The country (40 plus cities) on The Smoker's Club tour and saw his first headlining tour with Pro Era’s Kirk Knight in early 2015. On January 20, 2015, Joey Bada$ $ released his debut studio album “B4.DA.$ $ ”. The album sold an impressive 56,000 units opening week making it the #1 rap album in the country that week. On September 1, 2015, Chicago rapper Lil Herb was added to the roster of Cinematic. His album, Ballin' Like I'm Kobe,
6380-522: The development of the full frequency range recording [ffrr] technique, followed by the early adoption of stereo recording), the introduction of the long-playing record , and the recruitment of John Culshaw to Decca's London office. Decca released the stereo recordings of Ernest Ansermet conducting L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, including, in 1959, the first complete stereo LP recording of The Nutcracker , as well as Ansermet's only stereo version of Manuel de Falla 's The Three-Cornered Hat , which
6490-560: The emergence of alternative rock — Nirvana being an example. Geffen also briefly distributed the first incarnation of Def American Recordings (now simply American Recordings ) through Warner Music Group from 1988 to 1990. After nearly a decade of operating through WMG, its contract with the company ended. Geffen was then sold to MCA Music Entertainment, by then, a label division of the now-defunct MCA Inc. in 1990. The deal earned founder David Geffen an estimated US$ 800 million in stock and an employment contract that ran until then. Following
6600-508: The end of the decade, the company also began making a name for itself as an emerging rock label, thanks to the success of Whitesnake (U.S. and Canada only), The Stone Roses , Guns N' Roses , Tesla , Sonic Youth and the comeback of 1970s-era rockers Aerosmith . This prompted Geffen to create a subsidiary label, DGC Records (formerly the David Geffen Company), in 1990; which focused on more progressive rock and would later embrace
6710-857: The famous Decca tree , a stereo microphone recording system for big orchestras. Decca started the first actual stereophonic recording on 13–28 May 1954, at Victoria Hall , Geneva, the first European record company to do so; only two months before, RCA Victor had begun the first actual stereophonic recording in the US, 6–8 March 1954. Decca archives show that Ernest Ansermet and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande recorded Antar by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (Decca's official first actual stereo recording); Stenka Razin by Alexander Glazunov ; Tamara by Mily Balakirev ; Anatoly Liadov 's Baba-Yaga , Eight Russian Folksongs , Kikimora ; and Le Martyre de saint Sébastien by Claude Debussy . These performances were initially issued only in monaural sound; and in 1959,
SECTION 60
#17331247019516820-511: The ffrr recordings to be transferred to disc very realistically. In 1949, in both the UK and the US, Decca took up the LP promptly and enthusiastically giving the British arm an enormous advantage over EMI, which for some years tried to stick exclusively to the old format, thereby forfeiting competitive advantage to Decca, both artistically and financially. British Decca recorded high-fidelity versions of all
6930-565: The first of the British "progressive" labels, with such stars as the Moody Blues, Cat Stevens and Ten Years After , Decca in the 1970s became increasingly dependent on re-releases from its back catalogue. It had some renewed pop success in the late 1970s despite the growth of punk rock , with hits by acts such as John Miles , novelty creation Father Abraham and the Smurfs , and productions by longtime Decca associate Jonathan King . King had achieved an early hit with Decca in 1965, " Everyone's Gone to
7040-694: The funding for the label's start-up and operations, while it distributed its releases in North America , with CBS 's Epic Records handling distribution in the rest of the world until 1985 when Warner Music Group (parent company of Warner Records and formerly a division of Time Warner/ Warner Bros. Discovery until 2004) took over distribution for the rest of the world. Profits were split 50% each between Geffen Records and its respective distributors. Despite being named for founder and original owner David Geffen, it has been acknowledged that Ed Rosenblatt, who became president of Geffen Records upon its inception in 1980,
7150-477: The influence of these releases in the recording of theatrical shows in the US continues to this day – in Decca's home country, the UK original cast albums had been a fixture for years. Columbia Records followed with musical theatre albums, starting with the 1946 revival of Show Boat . In 1947, RCA Victor released the original cast album of Brigadoon . By the 1950s, many recording companies were releasing Broadway show albums recorded by their original casts, and
7260-415: The introduction of long-playing records in 1949 made better use of the new technology and set an industry standard that was quickly imitated by Decca's competitors. Nonetheless, titles first issued on 78rpm remained in that form in the Decca catalogues into the early 1950s. The ffrr technique became internationally accepted and considered a standard. The Ernest Ansermet recording of Stravinsky 's Petrushka
7370-470: The label in 2015), Dot Records , ABC Records (primarily its pop, rock, and R&B recordings) and DGC Records (the label had merged into Geffen in 2021 with reissues now being handled by the parent label). Geffen Records began operations in 1980. It was created by music industry businessman David Geffen who, in the early 1970s, had co-founded Asylum Records with Elliot Roberts . Geffen stepped down from Asylum in 1975, when he crossed over to film and
7480-419: The label was previously absorbed in 1999 following its merger with Interscope. Retained artists, Beck and Sonic Youth , were later redirected to record for Geffen afterwards; DGC was later reactivated in 2007, later operating under Interscope rather than Geffen. With the mergers of MCA, DGC and DreamWorks into Geffen, more than 103 employees were laid off. As the mid-2000s progressed, Geffen's absorption of
7590-404: The label's roster. However, Culshaw was not the first to do this. In 1951, Columbia Records executive Goddard Lieberson partnered with Broadway conductor Lehman Engel to record a series of previously unrecorded Broadway musical scores for Columbia Masterworks , including what Engel, in his book The American Musical Theatre: A Consideration , termed "Broadway opera," and in 1951, they released
7700-569: The label. Meanwhile, DreamWorks Records, in October, also folded, with its artists roster, consisting of Nelly Furtado , Lifehouse and Rufus Wainwright , being absorbed by Geffen as well. The absorption occurred following a reorganization at DreamWorks Pictures, which resulted in DreamWorks Animation being divested and DreamWorks Records being acquired by UMG. During this time, the remains of DGC Records were also folded into Geffen, although
7810-409: The likes of PolyGram , CBS, EMI, and newcomer Virgin's rosters of hitmakers. Ultimately Decca's founder Edward Lewis "was unable to appoint a successor or relinquish control of the business. As a consequence, in 1980, days before his death, the business, then in the grip of a serious financial crisis, was sold." PolyGram acquired the remains of Decca UK within days, and British Decca's pop catalogue
7920-587: The management of Verve Music Group . In Britain, Decca bought out the bankrupt UK branch of Brunswick Records in 1932, which added such stars as Bing Crosby and Al Jolson to its roster. Decca also bought out the Melotone and Edison Bell record companies. In late 1934, a United States branch of Decca was launched. In establishing the American unit, the founders bought the former Brunswick Records pressing plants in New York City and Muskegon, Michigan , which were shut down in 1931, from Warner Bros. in exchange for
8030-406: The mind,' offering listeners at home not merely a second-best alternative to being in the opera house , but an entirely distinct experience. To that end, he had the singers move about in the studio as they would onstage, used discreet sound effects and different acoustics, and recorded in long, continuous takes. His skill, coupled with Decca's sound engineering capabilities, elevated the label into
8140-467: The most complete Porgy and Bess recorded up to that time. Far from being a mere rendering of the score, the 3-LP album set used sound effects to realistically recreate the production as if the listener were watching a stage performance of the work. Until 1947, American Decca issued British Decca classical music recordings. Afterward, British Decca took over distribution through its new American subsidiary London Records. American Decca actively re-entered
8250-475: The music through Decca Records. The first soundtrack LP featured the jazz score composed by Elmer Bernstein , while the second soundtrack LP featured music composed and performed by the Chico Hamilton Quintet , a band that appears in the film. In 1961, American Decca released the soundtrack album of Flower Drum Song , Universal Pictures' film version of the 1958 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. In
8360-517: The new post-war record formats adopting the LP in 1949 and the 45 rpm record around a year later while continuing to sell 78s. During the 1950s, American Decca released several soundtrack recordings of popular motion pictures, notably Mike Todd 's production of Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) with the music of veteran film composer Victor Young . Since Decca had access to the stereo tracks of
8470-420: The new technique was a distinctive feature of Decca. Even after stereo became standard and into the 1970s, Decca boasted a special sound quality, characterized by aggressive use of the highest and lowest frequencies, novel use of tape saturation and out-of-phase sound to convey a livelier hall ambiance, plus considerable bar-to-bar rebalancing by the recording staff of orchestral voices, known as "spotlighting". In
8580-478: The newly-founded company's DreamWorks Records subsidiary. That spring, Panasonic's ownership percentage of MCA was decreased to 20% when the remaining 80% was sold to Canadian distillery company Seagram in exchange for $ 5.7 billion USD. In January 1996, Geffen funded and distributed a short-lived boutique label, Outpost Recordings , featuring the likes of Whiskeytown , Ry Cooder , Veruca Salt , and Hayden . On December 9, 1996, Geffen's parent company, MCA Inc.
8690-443: The only record companies in the UK. That same year, British Decca head Edward Lewis completed a three-year sale of his interest in American Decca to avoid a potential freeze on his foreign investments due to the threat of World War II . In 1941, American Decca acquired Brunswick Records and its sublabel Vocalion Records from Warner Bros. , which had a financial interest in Decca. In 1942, stock in American Decca began trading on
8800-492: The recording of original cast albums had become standard practice whenever a new show opened. Decca throughout the 1930s and early to mid-1940s was a leading label of blues and jump music with such best-selling artists as Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Louis Jordan (who was the best-selling R&B artist of the 1940s). In 1954, American Decca released " Rock Around the Clock " by Bill Haley & His Comets . Produced by Milt Gabler ,
8910-548: The recording was initially only moderately successful, but when it was used as the theme song for the 1955 film Blackboard Jungle , it became the first international rock and roll hit, and the first such recording to go to No. 1 on the American musical charts. According to the Guinness Book of Records , it went on to sell 25 million copies, returning to the US and UK charts several times between 1955 and 1974. But due to management and promotion decisions, Decca lost its place as
9020-731: The roster. Shipes then signed Joey Bada$ $ & the collective Pro Era, short for the Progressive Era, which , a group of emcees, producers, and young tastemakers. Musical members of Pro Era include Joey Bada$ $ , Capital Steez, Kirk Knight, Nyck Caution, CJ Fly, Dessy Hinds, A La Sole, Chuck Strangers, Dyemond Lewis and more. After viewing a video of a 16-year-old Joey Bada$ $ freestyling on popular hip hop and viral video website WorldstarHipHop.com, Shipes saw his potential. After writing for two years, Bada$ $ released his debut mixtape “1999”, receiving critical acclaim from Complex Magazine. Bada$ $ & Pro Era have been noted for their lyricism and return to
9130-712: The sale, Geffen Records operated as one of MCA's leading independently managed labels. A year later, MCA was acquired by Japanese conglomerate Matsushita Electric (now Panasonic ), bringing Geffen, Universal Pictures and other sister companies along. The acquisition was completed on New Year's Day 1991 for $ 6.6 billion USD. Geffen stepped down as head of the label in 1995 to collaborate with Jeffrey Katzenberg and Amblin Entertainment co-founder Steven Spielberg to form DreamWorks SKG (later DreamWorks Pictures ), an ambitious multimedia empire dealing in film, television, books and music. Geffen Records would distribute releases on
9240-413: The soundtrack industry; the first time that a film had two separate soundtracks, each featuring completely different music. All of the music from Sweet Smell of Success was published by Calyork Music , a music publishing company founded by the film's producers Harold Hecht and Burt Lancaster , along with Hecht's brother-in-law, established music publisher Loring Buzzell , who secured the releasing of
9350-517: The stereo version of Le Martyre de saint Sébastien was issued only in the US as London OSA 1104 (OS 25108); and stereo versions of others were finally issued from the late 1960s to the beginning of the 1970s as part of the "Ace of Diamonds" series and ""Decca Eclipse"" series (in the UK) or "Stereo Treasury" series (in the US on the London label). The Decca stereo format was called (in succession to ffrr) "ffss", i.e. "full frequency stereophonic sound". With most competitors not using stereo until 1957,
9460-566: The symphonies of Ralph Vaughan Williams except for the ninth, under the personal supervision of the composer, with Sir Adrian Boult and the London Philharmonic Orchestra . Benjamin Britten conducted recordings of many of his compositions for Decca, from the 1940s to the 1970s; most of these recordings have been reissued on CD. The British Decca recording engineers Arthur Haddy, Roy Wallace, and Kenneth Wilkinson developed in 1954
9570-652: The top tier of recording companies. His pioneering recording (begun in 1958) of Wagner 's Der Ring des Nibelungen conducted by Georg Solti was a huge artistic and commercial success (to the chagrin of other companies). Solti recorded throughout his career for Decca, and made more than 250 recordings , including 45 complete opera sets. Among the international honours given to Solti (and Decca) for his recordings were 31 Grammy Awards – more than any other recording artist, whether classical or popular. Following Decca's success, artists such as Herbert von Karajan , Joan Sutherland and later Luciano Pavarotti were keen to join
9680-490: The world, calling itself "The Supreme Record Company". Decca bought the UK branch of Brunswick Records and continued to run it under that name. In the 1950s, the American Decca studios were located in the Pythian Temple in New York City. In classical music, Decca had extensive work from its roots to be equals with the established HMV and Columbia labels (later merged as EMI ). The pre-war classical repertoire on Decca
9790-545: Was Owen Bradley , who joined Decca in 1947 and was promoted to vice president and head of A&R for the Nashville operations in 1958. Full frequency range recording (ffrr) was a spin-off devised by Arthur Haddy of British Decca's development, during the Second World War , of a high fidelity hydrophone capable of detecting and cataloguing individual German submarines by each one's signature engine noise, and enabled
9900-464: Was Aldonza/Dulcinea. Around 1970, American Decca enjoyed success with LPS of soundtrack dialogue excerpts from the films of W.C. Fields , the Marx Brothers , and Mae West . The Fields and Marx Brothers albums were narrated by radio personality and cartoon voice actor Gary Owens . In 1934, Jack Kapp established a country & western line for the new Decca label by signing Frank Luther , Sons of
10010-400: Was appointed president of Geffen Records to oversee the second relaunch of the label via new signings as well as reinvigoration of the label's legendary catalog. In 2018, Interscope musician DJ Snake was drafted to Geffen to release his second studio album, Carte Blanche , which commenced on July 26, 2019. Its single, " Taki Taki ", went on to accumulate four million equivalent units in
10120-464: Was broken for several decades. The British label was renowned for its development of recording methods, while the American company developed the concept of cast albums in the musical genre. In 1947, following World War II, British Decca re-established distribution in the United States through its new subsidiary London Records . The London trademark name has also been used in other countries such as Canada , Mexico , Germany and Japan . In 1973,
10230-487: Was coined by Wilfred S. Samuel by merging the word " Mecca " with the initial D of their logo "Dulcet" or their trademark "Dulcephone". Samuel, a linguist, chose "Decca" as a brand name as it was easy to pronounce in most languages. That company was eventually renamed the Decca Gramophone Co. Ltd. and then sold to former stockbroker Edward Lewis in 1929. Within years, Decca Records was the second-largest record label in
10340-483: Was established in the UK in 1990, run by Roger Ames, and distributed by PolyGram became part of Warner Music Group in 2000 when he was hired to run that company. Universal Music reacquired trademark rights in 2011, and Warner Records 90 Ltd. (formerly London Records 90), a company that controlled most of London's post-1980 catalogue, was acquired by French company Because Music in 2017. They started licensing "London Recordings" name and logo from UMG, and Warner Records 90
10450-476: Was followed by original cast recordings of Carousel and Irving Berlin 's Annie Get Your Gun , both featuring members of the original casts of the shows and utilising those shows' vocal and choral arrangements. Because of the technical restrictions of recording on 78 rpm records , none of these scores were recorded completely; they were shorter than cast albums made after LPs were introduced. But Decca had made history by recording Broadway musicals, and
10560-567: Was key in the development of full frequency range records and alerting the listening public to high fidelity in 1946. The long-playing record was launched in the US in 1948 by Columbia Records (not connected with the British company of the same name at the time). It enabled recordings to play for up to half an hour without a break, compared with the three to five minutes playing time of the existing records. The new records were made of vinyl (the old discs were made of brittle shellac ), which enabled
10670-466: Was later transferred to Geffen to avoid contractual obligations with G-Unit . His sophomore studio album (also his first under the label), Doctor's Advocate , debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 upon release on November 14, 2006. Geffen's urban division pertained even more notoriety with the IGA resigning of Keyshia Cole through the imprint, following DGC's relaunch and A&M's revitalization as A&M Octone Records in 2007; Cole
10780-466: Was named a vice president of Warner Bros. Pictures . He was fired from Warner c. 1978 , but still remained locked in a five-year contract, which prevented him from working elsewhere. When that deal expired, he returned to work in 1980 and struck a deal with Warner Bros. Records (now simply Warner Records , due to the label's disassociation from Warner Bros. Pictures in 2004), to create Geffen Records. Warner Bros. Records provided 100 percent of
10890-413: Was named the chairman of Geffen. That same year, after disputes with Interscope co-founder Jimmy Iovine (at the time, the chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M, parent unit of Geffen), former labelmates 50 Cent and Dr. Dre , rapper The Game was dismissed from G-Unit Records and Interscope division imprint Aftermath Entertainment (the respective labels of the aforementioned latter two), but
11000-530: Was not extensive but was select. The 3-disc 1929 recording of Delius 's Sea Drift , arising from the Delius Festival that year, suffered by being crammed onto six sides, being indifferently recorded and expensive; following issue in July they were already withdrawn by October the same year. However, it won Decca the loyalty of the baritone Roy Henderson , who went on to record for them the first complete Dido and Aeneas of Purcell with Nancy Evans and
11110-425: Was previously signed to sister label A&M early in her career from 2004 to that point. Her sophomore album, Just like You , received critical praise and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. However, at the end of 2007, Geffen was subsided further into Interscope. The restructuring resulted in Geffen laying off sixty employees. In 2009, it was announced that Geffen Records had signed an agreement with
11220-551: Was reincorporated as Universal Studios, Inc. Even so, its music division, MCA Music Entertainment Group, was also renamed Universal Music Group. However, under UMG's new ownership, Geffen's fortunes began to dwindle. On December 10, 1998, Seagram completed its seven-month $ 10.6 billion plan to acquire PolyGram. As a result, PolyGram's music division was merged into Universal Music Group. Geffen now became sister labels to A&M Records , Island Records , Mercury Records , Def Jam Recordings and Motown (which had previously been
11330-502: Was released on September 27, 2015. On February 4, 2016, Cinematic announced the signing of Brooklyn rock band Caveman on February 11 announced the addition of Public Access TV. In summer 2023 Shipes sold the Cinematic Music Group catalog to Interscope Geffen A&M in a deal reported to be worth eight figures, and launched a new venture, GoodTalk, a full-service entertainment company with divisions including talent management,
11440-486: Was renamed London Music Stream Ltd. It is also the distributing label of POINT Music , a joint venture between Universal and Philip Glass 's Euphorbia Productions that folded shortly after the merger that created Universal Music. Ironically, the American Decca classical music catalogue is managed by sister Universal label Deutsche Grammophon . They include the recordings of guitarist Andrés Segovia . Before Deutsche Grammophon founded its own American branch in 1969, it had
11550-552: Was reorganized into MCA Records (Canada) in 1970. The Decca name was dropped by MCA in America in 1973 in favor of the MCA Records label. The first-run American Decca label's final release, " Drift Away " by Dobie Gray (label No. 33057), reached No. 5 on the Billboard chart and received gold record status. PolyGram acquired the remains of Decca UK within days of Sir Edward Lewis's death in January 1980. British Decca's pop catalogue
11660-453: Was taken over by Polydor Records . Ironically, PolyGram descended from British Decca's former Dutch distributor Hollandsche Decca Distributie. In Taiwan, PolyGram acquired 60% of Linfair Magnetic Sound (founded in 1961) in 1992 and renamed it Decca Records Taiwan. The name remained until 2002, when it decided to sell its 60 percent stake, and changed its name to Linfair Records, making the company independent from Universal Music. In addition to
11770-497: Was taken over by Polydor. American Decca also released several notable spoken word albums, such as a recording of Charles Dickens 's A Christmas Carol starring Ronald Colman as Scrooge, and a recording of the Christmas chapter from The Pickwick Papers read by Charles Laughton . These two separate 78-RPM albums were later combined into one LP. Other spoken word albums included Lullaby of Christmas , narrated by Gregory Peck ,
11880-583: Was the End of Days soundtrack , released in November 1999. Geffen became a predominantly rock music-based label. Geffen continued to do steady business—even within 2003 , UMG folded MCA Records into Geffen that July. Though Geffen had been substantially a pop-rock label, its absorption of MCA (and its back catalogs) led to a more diverse roster; with former MCA artists such as Mary J. Blige , The Roots , Blink-182 , Rise Against , and Common now being transferred to
11990-486: Was the one who led Geffen Records during its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s. The label's first artist signing was superstar Donna Summer , whose gold-selling album The Wanderer became the label's first release in October 1980. At the time, Donna Summer was undergoing a dispersing contract with and subsequent lawsuit against Universal Music Group 's Casablanca Records . The label then released Double Fantasy by John Lennon and Yoko Ono . Two weeks after it entered
12100-936: Was to be devoted to "symphonies, concertos, chamber music, opera, songs and choral music." American and European artists were to be the performers. Among the classical recordings released on Decca's "Gold Label" series were albums by Leroy Anderson , the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Max Rudolf and guitarist Andrés Segovia . American Decca shut down its classical music department in 1971. Between 1973 and 1980, Decca championed new music through its Headline imprint. Works given their recorded premiere included pieces by Peter Maxwell Davies , Harrison Birtwistle , Luciano Berio , Hans Werner Henze , Witold Lutoslawski , Toru Takemitsu , David Bedford , Thea Musgrave , Andrzej Panufnik , Iannis Xenakis , Brian Ferneyhough and John Cage . Performers included Roger Woodward , Stomu Yamash'ta , Salman Shukur , and
#950049