Decca Label Group
Decca Label Group is Universal Music Group's classical music record label group based in the United States - in addition to new releases, it also manages the vast classical back catalog of UMG (through the various labels that make up the group). The Decca Label Group comprises two divisions: Universal Musical Classical and the American operations of Decca Records. In 2005, Universal Classics Group was named 3 on Billboard's Top Classical Crossover Label and 2 on Billboard's Top Classical Label.
Although the group's primary focus is Western classical music, it also has subsidiaries dealing with jazz and musical theater. The main Decca label also issues some pop and country releases.
Universal Music Classical
Decca Records
References
See also
Similar sub-divisions of rival companies:
External links
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis along with American Decca's first president Jack Kapp and later American Decca president Milton Rackmil; as a result of World War II, the link with the British company 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. Both wings are now part of the Universal Music Group, which is owned by Vivendi, a media conglomerate headquartered in Paris, France. The US Decca label was the foundation company which evolved into UMG.
Label name
The name "Decca" 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.
The name dates back to a portable gramophone called the "Decca Dulcephone" patented in 1914 by musical instrument makers Barnett Samuel and Sons. That company was eventually renamed the Decca Gramophone Co. Ltd. and then sold to former stockbroker Edward Lewis in 1929. Within years, Decca Records Ltd. was the second largest record label in the world, calling itself "The Supreme Record Company".
Podcasts:
