Ariola (also known as Ariola Records, Ariola-Eurodisc and BMG Ariola) is a German

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

. In the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of the

Bertelsmann Music Group Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music com ...

, which in turn has become a part of the international media conglomerate

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

Profile

Ariola Eurodisc GmbH was founded in 1958 as a music outlet of

Bertelsmann Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA () is a German private multinational conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is one of the world's largest media conglomerates, and is also active in the service sector and ...

. It set up several foreign subsidiaries. Ariola America was founded in 1975 in Los Angeles, and achieved ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine number one singles with

Mary MacGregor Mary MacGregor (born May 6, 1948) is an American singer. She is best known for singing the 1976 song " Torn Between Two Lovers", which topped the ''Billboard'' charts for two weeks. Career MacGregor was born May 6, 1948, in St. Paul, Minnes ...

's "

Torn Between Two Lovers "Torn Between Two Lovers" is a song written by Peter Yarrow (of the folk music trio Peter, Paul & Mary) and Phillip Jarrell that speaks about a love triangle, and laments that "loving both of you is breaking all the rules". Mary MacGregor recorde ...

" (1976) and

Amii Stewart Amy Paulette "Amii" Stewart (born January 29, 1956) is an American disco and soul singer and dancer who found prominence with her 1979 U.S. Billboard number 1 hit cover of Eddie Floyd's song " Knock on Wood", often considered a classic of the ...

's cover version of the 1966

Eddie Floyd Edward Lee Floyd (born June 25, 1937) is an American R&B and soul singer and songwriter, best known for his work on the Stax record label in the 1960s and 1970s, including the No. 1 R&B hit song " Knock on Wood". Biography Floyd was born in ...

hit " Knock on Wood" (1979). Other artists on the Ariola America roster during the late 1970s included

Gene Cotton Gene Cotton (born June 30, 1944 in Columbus, Ohio) is an American pop and folk singer-songwriter. He is best known for his four ''Billboard'' top 40 entries during the years 1976–1978. In the UK, he is most famous for the song "Me and the E ...

The Three Degrees The Three Degrees is an American female vocal group formed circa 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although 16 women have been members over the years, the group has always been a trio. The current line-up consists of Helen Scott, Valerie Holi ...

, Chanson, and the Canadian band

Prism Prism usually refers to: * Prism (optics), a transparent optical component with flat surfaces that refract light * Prism (geometry), a kind of polyhedron Prism may also refer to: Science and mathematics * Prism (geology), a type of sedimentary ...

among others. After its pop success dried up, Ariola America found success in the Spanish language market including

José José José Rómulo Sosa Ortiz (17 February 1948 – 28 September 2019), known professionally as José José, was a Mexican singer and actor. Born into a family of musicians, José began his musical career in his early teens playing guitar and sin ...

and

Rocío Dúrcal María de los Ángeles de las Heras Ortiz (4 October 1944 – 25 March 2006), better known professionally as Rocío Dúrcal (), was a Spanish singer and actress. Widely successful in Mexico, she earned the sobriquet of ''Reina de las Rancheras'' ...

from the late 1970s onward and Mexican artist

Marisela Marisela Hernandez (born April 24, 1966 as Marisela Esqueda), commonly known as Marisela, is a Mexican-American singer. In 1984, she recorded her first album at the age of 18, and continued to release albums into the 1990s. Her cover version of ...

starting in the 1990s. Other subsidiaries include Ariola-Athena to release spoken word records; Ariola Benelux was founded in 1970 to cover the

Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe: B ...

market; Ariola Eurodisc was a Spanish division of Ariola, founded in 1970; Ariola UK the UK based subsidiary of Ariola was founded in 1977; Baccarola; Türküola for the Turkish market;

Eurodisc Ariola (also known as Ariola Records, Ariola-Eurodisc and BMG Ariola) is a German record label. In the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of the Bertelsmann Music Group, which in turn has become a part of the international media conglomera ...

to release disco records in France - most successfully with

Amanda Lear Amanda Lear (; born 1939) is a French singer, songwriter, painter, television presenter, actress, and former model. She began her professional career as a fashion model in the mid-1960s, and went on to model for Paco Rabanne, Ossie Clark, and ...

Giorgio Moroder Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance mu ...

(house producer of Ariola) and Jupiter Records for German

Schlager music Schlager music (, " hit(s)") is a style of European popular music that is generally a catchy instrumental accompaniment to vocal pieces of pop music with simple, happy-go-lucky, and often sentimental lyrics. Typical Schlager tracks are eith ...

and disco like for instance group

Dschinghis Khan Dschinghis Khan (; " Genghis Khan") was a German Eurodisco pop band. It was originally formed in Munich in 1979 to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest with their song "Dschinghis Khan". The original group led by original members Henriette S ...

. It acquired both

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

and German rival label

Hansa Records Hansa Records (also known as Hansa, Hansa Musik Produktion or Hansa International) was a record label founded in the 1960s based in Berlin, Germany. Profile The label's most successful act commercially was the German-based band Boney M. with mil ...

in 1979. It sold 50% of Arista to

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

in 1983; after a brief joint venture between RCA and Ariola, RCA (including its record division) was acquired by

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

who promptly sold RCA's stake in the venture back to Ariola. Ariola America also had a sister label called Ocean Records, which included on its roster actress/entertainer

Ann-Margret Ann-Margret Olsson (born April 28, 1941) is a Swedish–American actress, singer, and dancer. As an actress and singer, she is credited as Ann-Margret. She is known for her roles in '' Pocketful of Miracles'' (1961), ''State Fair'' (1962), '' ...

. It was active 1979 through 1980. In the 1980s, there was a software development division called

Ariolasoft Ariolasoft GmbH, later known as United Software, was a German video game developer, publisher and distributor. It started in 1983 as the software subsidiary of Ariola Records, itself the record division of Germany's large Bertelsmann empire. ...

. Today, Ariola is a unit of

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

Group and is still active in Germany under the Sony Group Corporation umbrella.

External links

Official website
(in German) {{Authority control German record labels Spoken word record labels Record labels established in 1958 1958 establishments in Germany

Profile

See also

External links