E.G. Records was a British

artist management A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of entertainer, artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee t ...

company and

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

, mostly active during the 1970s and 1980s. The initials stood for its founders, David Enthoven and John Gaydon. The pair signed on as managers of King Crimson in early 1969, during the formative stage of the band and prior to the release of debut '' In the Court of the Crimson King'', with it springboarding their entrance into the record label and music publishing markets. They also signed

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, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Roxy Music to management. Gaydon left the company in 1971 and Enthoven, due to declining health, in June 1977. Samuel George Alder and

Mark Fenwick Mark Anthony Fenwick (born May 1948) is a British businessman, the fifth generation of his family to run the Fenwick department store chain founded in 1882. Mark Anthony Fenwick was born in May 1948. He was the son of John Fenwick, who died in ...

(later managing

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...

) took over control of the companies, re-releasing material from King Crimson in addition to new releases from acts such as

Iain Ballamy Iain Ballamy (born 20 February 1964) is a British composer and saxophonist. He is considered one of the greatest modern jazz saxophonists. Career Ballamy was born in Guildford, Surrey, and educated at George Abbot School, Guildford, from 1975 ...

, Bill Bruford, The Chieftains,

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Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

, Robert Fripp, Human Chain,

Killing Joke Killing Joke are an English rock music, rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Ki ...

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, Penguin Cafe Orchestra,

Elan Sicroff Elan David Sicroff (born March 20, 1950) is a concert pianist, recording artist, and educator. He is the foremost interpreter of music composed by Thomas de Hartmann (1885–1956) and the spiritualist George Gurdjieff (1866 or 1867–1949). As a t ...

, Toyah Willcox, and U.K. The label was distributed in the UK by

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

(through 1974) and then Polydor Records. In the US, artists were placed on

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

, Warner Bros. Records,

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, Atco Records, Polydor Records, Passport Records/ Jem Records, Caroline Records and Virgin Records and on various other labels in other parts of the world. Alder and Fenwick were investors in Lloyd's of London and attempted an entrance into the real estate market; major losses on both ventures through 1988-1991 led them to have E.G. loan 4 million pounds towards their failing businesses, which led to no royalty payments to their roster for that time period. This prompted extensive legal battles with many of the artists they were involved with. Most notable among those was the one undertaken by Robert Fripp, which lasted 7 and a half years (April 1991 - September 1997). Fripp has been publicly critical of Sam Alder's business practices, both in regards to the non-payment of royalties and beyond, recounting the development of the situation that led to the lawsuit and digitizing/reproducing financial/legal documents multiple times on his online diary. E.G. was sold to Virgin Records in 1992, which continued operating E.G. In 1996, after Virgin was sold to EMI, it was absorbed into Virgin. Enthoven was born on 5 July 1944. He continued in music management until his death on 11 August 2016.

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* {{Authority control 1969 establishments in the United Kingdom 1996 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Record labels established in 1969 British jazz Virgin Records EMI British record labels Ambient music record labels Jazz record labels Progressive rock record labels IFPI members

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