Koch Entertainment was an American record label and a distributor of film, television, and music. It was purchased by Canadian entertainment company Entertainment One in 2005.

History

First years

The company began in 1975 as part of Koch International originally of Tirol, later of Munich. Founded by Tirolean banker Franz Koch, Koch was an independent Austrian record label, recording studio, and music distribution company that specialized in German Folk Music and later popular classical music recordings. For over 20 years, the international arm of the company operated under the name Koch Entertainment, a music, film, and television distribution & record label company that was started in 1987 by Franz's son Michael in

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. In 1988, the parent Austrian company Koch acquired

Schwann Records Schwann may refer to: *The Schwann cell *Henry Schwann, English cricketer *Theodor Schwann, a German physiologist, histologist and cytologist * Schwann Records, a German record label * The Schwann catalog The ''Schwann Catalog'' (previously ''Sc ...

from Schwann Verlag.

1990s

By 1991, Koch had become one of the first national independent distributors of domestic labels in the U.S. by offering an alternative to the traditional system of regional independent distribution or national major label distribution. In 1992, Koch was ranked #315 on ''

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''s list of America's 500 fastest-growing private companies, and has since grown into an entertainment conglomerate. It acquired the specialist German label Schwann, Koch expanded into the Canadian market in 1995 by forming the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

-based

Koch Entertainment Canada Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television se ...

. In 1996, Koch International took over Discover, a budget label which had been set up by conductor

Ali Rahbari Ali (Alexander) Rahbari ( fa, علی رهبری; also Romanized as "Alī Rahbarī", ; born 1948) is an Iranian composer and conductor, who has worked with more than 120 European orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic and the Mariinsky Ope ...

to challenge the dominance in the budget classical sector of Naxos. The new Koch Discover International was to be jointly controlled by Franz Koch and Rahbari. The Austrian parent Koch divested Schwann to Deutsche Grammophone's parent Universal Music GmbH in 2002.

2000s

In 2003, Koch formed the DVD label Koch Lorber in collaboration with Richard Lorber. In 2005, Koch was acquired by the Canadian company ROW Entertainment (now known as Entertainment One).

References

{{Authority control Defunct companies based in New York (state) Defunct entertainment companies Entertainment One Entertainment companies of the United States Entertainment companies established in 1975 Entertainment companies disestablished in 2005 2005 mergers and acquisitions