EMI Italiana was a

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 ...

, an Italian offshoot of British Electric and Musical Industries, based in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. It was founded in 1931 as VCM and, in 1967, renamed EMI Italiana; it then became EMI Music Italy in 1997 and, finally, EMI Records Italy Srl in 2013, when it ceased to exist as an independent company and was acquired by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

History

VCM's birth

Since 1904,

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...

records were published and distributed by ''SAIF'' (''Società Anonima Italiana di

Fonotipia Fonotipia Records, or Dischi Fonotipia, was an Italian gramophone record label established in 1904 with a charter to record the art of leading opera singers and some other celebrity musicians, chiefly violinists. Fonotipia continued to operate int ...

''), based in

. The British record company was actually called ''Grammofono'', but due to the famous painting by Francis Barraud "La voce del padrone" which portrays the little dog Nipper listening to a gramophone, used a trademark on the label, it soon took on this name unofficial. Meanwhile, in 1912, Alfredo Bossi (one of the first Italian record companies) had founded the ''SNG'' (''Società Nazionale del Grammofono'') also based in Milan, which in the 1920s had signed an agreement with the British record label

Columbia Graphophone Company Columbia Graphophone Co. Ltd. was one of the earliest phonograph, gramophone companies in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1917 as an offshoot of the American Columbia Records, Columbia Phonograph Company, it became an independent British-owned ...

for the production and distribution of records in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Since in 1931 Columbia (not to be confused with the American label of the same name) and His Master's Voice merged giving life to

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

, the same operation took place in Italy also between ''SAIF'' and ''SNG'' with the involvement of a third partner,

Marconiphone Marconiphone was an English manufacturer of domestic receiving equipment, notably radio receivers and reel-to-reel tape machines. Early History After World War I, the Marconi Company began producing non-industrial receivers, principally for the ...

, a company specialized in the production of radio sets (this because the English EMI intended to expand into this market) which was already present in the music world distribuiting in Italy the records of the French label

Pathé Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French people, French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest ...

. The company name was VCM ( Voce del Padrone - Columbia - Marconiphone), and this denomination remained until 1967, when it was translated in EMI Italiana; the headquarters was established in

, in via Domenichino 14 (later it was moved to piazza Cavour 2), and the director was Aldo Mario De Luigi. In the 1930s, Dennis Passadoro (who died in the war in 1942) was director of VCM. Until the end of the 1950s, he also maintained some offices in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, in via Pietro Micca 1.

Success

Despite being a unique company, however, it maintained the diversity of labels in various publications, unifying the catalog only at the end of 1969. With the outbreak of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the company, like many others of English property, was placed under seizure, and resumed its activity in Italy in 1946; while giving priority to the distribution of foreign artists in the peninsula, it also dealt with the launch of Italian singers such as

Beniamino Gigli Beniamino Gigli ( , ; 20 March 1890 – 30 November 1957) was an Italian opera singer (lyric tenor). He is widely regarded as one of the greatest tenors of his generation. Early life Gigli was born in Recanati, in the Marche, the son of a shoem ...

Carlo Buti Carlo Buti (14 November 1902 – 16 November 1963) was an Italian interpreter of popular and folk music. He was known as "the Golden Voice of Italy", and was possibly the first superstar of Italian music in the twentieth century. He recorded 1574 so ...

Renato Carosone Renato Carosone (; born Renato Carusone; 3 January 1920 – 20 May 2001) was an Italian musician. He was a prominent figure of the Italian music scene in the second half of the 20th century. He was also a modern performer of the so-called ' ...

(who recorded for the sub-label ''Pathé'') and, in the 1960s, the

Nomadi Nomadi (or I Nomadi, meaning "Nomads") is an Italian band formed in 1963 and still present on the music scene. Career Origins In 1961, Beppe Carletti and Leonardo Manfredini formed the group I Monelli (‘Urchins’). In 1962, Carletti met Franco ...

Al Bano Albano Antonio Carrisi (; born 20 May 1943), better known as Al Bano, is an Italian tenor, actor, and winemaker. He is one of the most recognisable Italian singers in the world whose career spans 7 decades. He has gained notability due to his vo ...

Francesco Guccini Francesco Guccini (, born 14 June 1940) is an Italian singer-songwriter, considered one of the most important '' cantautori'' of his time. During the five decades of his music career he has recorded 16 studio albums and collections, and 6 live a ...

and Adamo. In 1972 the main office was moved from Milan to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, and then moved in the early 1980s to via Bergamo in

Caronno Pertusella Caronno Pertusella ( lmo, Caronn e Pertusella ) is a town and ''comune'' located in the province of Varese, in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. It has a population of about 17.775. See also * S.C. Caronnese S.S.D. * Caronno Pertusella r ...

(in the province of

Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the c ...

but a few steps from Milan), while maintaining some branch offices in Rome and Milan. Over the years it has entered into agreements for the distribution in Italy of brands such as the American

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

(since 1957), the British

Harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...

, the German

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

(published also in Italy under the name "Parlophon") and the French

Odeon Odeon may refer to: Ancient Greek and Roman buildings * Odeon (building), ancient Greek and Roman buildings built for singing exercises, musical shows and poetry competitions * Odeon of Agrippa, Athens * Odeon of Athens * Odeon of Domitian, Rome ...

(the latter two, until 1967, distributed by Carisch) and many record companies. Mostly from the post-war period onwards, the directors of the company were British such as the famous Stephen Gottieb who directed ''EMI Italiana'' throughout the 1960s; the first Italian was Alexis Rotelli in 1981, followed in 1986 by Roberto Citterio. In 1997 it changed the company name to EMI Music Italy S.p.A. and in 1999 it moved to Milan, selling the Caronno Pertusella facilities which became IMS dedicated to CD printing. In 2013 became EMI Records Italy Srl, following the acquisition by

Bibliography

* Mario de Luigi, ''L'industria discografica in Italia'', published by Lato Side, Rome, 1982 * Mario de Luigi, ''Storia dell'industria fonografica in Italia'', published by Musica e Dischi, Milan, 2008 * Magazine ''

Musica e dischi ''Musica e dischi'' was the oldest and long-running music industry publication in Italy. '' Billboard'' defined the publication as the "Italian record bible". History It was founded in October 1945 in Milan, Italy, on the initiative of the journ ...

'' (Years 1945 – 1968), ''Il Musichiere'' (Years 1959 – 1961), ''

TV Sorrisi e Canzoni ''TV Sorrisi e Canzoni'' (''TV Smiles and Songs'') is an Italian weekly listings magazine published in Segrate, Italy. History and profile ''TV Sorrisi e Canzoni'' was established in 1952. Based in Segrate, Milan, the magazine is published by ...

'' (Years 1952 – 1968) and others (''Ciao amici'', ''Giovani'', ''Big'', etc…etc…) {{Portal bar, companies, music, Italy Italian record labels Record labels established in 1931 Record labels disestablished in 2013 EMI Universal Music Group Music in Milan