Pony Canyon

Pony Canyon, Inc. (株式会社ポニーキャニオン, Kabushiki gaisha Ponī Kyanion), also known by the shorthand form Ponycan (ぽにきゃん, Ponikyan), is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966, which publishes music, DVD and VHS videos, movies, and video games. It is a subsidiary of the Japanese media group Fujisankei Communications Group.

History

On October 1, 1966, Nippon Broadcasting System, Inc. opened a new record label division, called as Nippon Broadcasting System Service, Inc., in order to produce and market music from Japanese artists. The division formally changed its name in 1970 to Pony, Inc. in order to match the brand names it has been using previously. These were "PONYPak" for 8-track cassettes from 1967, and "PONY" for cassettes from 1968. At this time in 1970 another Japanese record label Canyon Records Inc. was founded. In 1982, Pony ventured into interactive content by producing personal computer game software under the name "Ponyca". In 1984 the company entered license agreements with major overseas companies, MGM/UA, Vestron Video, Walt Disney Home Video and BBC Video, and in 1985, they established offices in New York and London. In 1986, Pony signed licensing agreements with A&M Records and in 1989 with Virgin Records to handle both companies. On October 21, 1987, Pony and Canyon merged their record operations to form Pony Canyon, Inc.